2014–2026 performance history

Illinois over time

Season-by-season offense and defense game grades, with head-coaching changes placed on the timeline.

Big TenHead coach: Bret BielemaView Illinois games →
Offense · 2026 estimate63.7/100

53.3 average through 2 games

66.2 prior · 8 equivalent games
Defense · 2026 estimate46.8/100

29.3 average through 2 games

51.5 prior · 8 equivalent games

The trajectory

Game and Season Unit Ratings

Each small dot is one offensive or defensive game rating, arranged in the order played. For completed seasons, the short bar is that season’s average game rating. Both dot and bar values are labeled on a percentile scale. For 2026, the bar is the Bayesian estimate, while the outlined circle is the empirical games-only mean. Labeled background bands show each head coach’s era.

Illinois individual offense and defense game grades by seasonEach small point is one game. Horizontal bars show completed-season means and the Bayesian estimate for 2026. The outlined 2026 circle is the empirical games-only mean. Alternating labeled bands identify head-coaching eras.BeckmanTim Beckman, 2014CubitBill Cubit, 2015Smith · ’16–’20Lovie Smith, 2016–2020Bielema · ’21–’26Bret Bielema, 2021–2026offenseGame-grade percentile · higher is better9975502512014 Week 1: Illinois vs. Youngstown State · W 28–17; offense 21.0 percentile2014 Week 2: Illinois vs. Western Kentucky · W 42–34; offense 37.6 percentile2014 Week 3: Illinois at Washington · L 19–44; offense 64.0 percentile2014 Week 4: Illinois vs. Texas State · W 42–35; offense 70.5 percentile2014 Week 5: Illinois at Nebraska · L 14–45; offense 25.9 percentile2014 Week 6: Illinois vs. Purdue · L 27–38; offense 61.8 percentile2014 Week 7: Illinois at Wisconsin · L 28–38; offense 62.1 percentile2014 Week 9: Illinois vs. Minnesota · W 28–24; offense 10.4 percentile2014 Week 10: Illinois at Ohio State · L 14–55; offense 10.4 percentile2014 Week 12: Illinois vs. Iowa · L 14–30; offense 13.6 percentile2014 Week 13: Illinois vs. Penn State · W 16–14; offense 22.6 percentile2014 Week 14: Illinois at Northwestern · W 47–33; offense 89.8 percentile2014 Week 1: Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech · L 18–35; offense 69.7 percentile2015 Week 1: Illinois vs. Kent State · W 52–3; offense 64.8 percentile2015 Week 2: Illinois vs. Western Illinois · W 44–0; offense 17.7 percentile2015 Week 3: Illinois at North Carolina · L 14–48; offense 18.3 percentile2015 Week 4: Illinois vs. Middle Tennessee · W 27–25; offense 39.2 percentile2015 Week 5: Illinois vs. Nebraska · W 14–13; offense 9.1 percentile2015 Week 6: Illinois at Iowa · L 20–29; offense 39.2 percentile2015 Week 8: Illinois vs. Wisconsin · L 13–24; offense 42.3 percentile2015 Week 9: Illinois at Penn State · L 0–39; offense 3.3 percentile2015 Week 10: Illinois at Purdue · W 48–14; offense 92.5 percentile2015 Week 11: Illinois vs. Ohio State · L 3–28; offense 3.2 percentile2015 Week 12: Illinois at Minnesota · L 23–32; offense 67.7 percentile2015 Week 13: Illinois vs. Northwestern · L 14–24; offense 13.8 percentile2016 Week 1: Illinois vs. Murray State · W 52–3; offense 59.7 percentile2016 Week 2: Illinois vs. North Carolina · L 23–48; offense 12.5 percentile2016 Week 3: Illinois vs. Western Michigan · L 10–34; offense 7.6 percentile2016 Week 5: Illinois at Nebraska · L 16–31; offense 46.7 percentile2016 Week 6: Illinois vs. Purdue · L 31–34; offense 57.0 percentile2016 Week 7: Illinois at Rutgers · W 24–7; offense 12.2 percentile2016 Week 8: Illinois at Michigan · L 8–41; offense 18.3 percentile2016 Week 9: Illinois vs. Minnesota · L 17–40; offense 22.9 percentile2016 Week 10: Illinois vs. Michigan State · W 31–27; offense 58.2 percentile2016 Week 11: Illinois at Wisconsin · L 3–48; offense 24.5 percentile2016 Week 12: Illinois vs. Iowa · L 0–28; offense 1.3 percentile2016 Week 13: Illinois at Northwestern · L 21–42; offense 47.4 percentile2017 Week 1: Illinois vs. Ball State · W 24–21; offense 2.0 percentile2017 Week 2: Illinois vs. Western Kentucky · W 20–7; offense 23.7 percentile2017 Week 3: Illinois at South Florida · L 23–47; offense 63.7 percentile2017 Week 5: Illinois vs. Nebraska · L 6–28; offense 3.0 percentile2017 Week 6: Illinois at Iowa · L 16–45; offense 75.8 percentile2017 Week 7: Illinois vs. Rutgers · L 24–35; offense 16.1 percentile2017 Week 8: Illinois at Minnesota · L 17–24; offense 33.4 percentile2017 Week 9: Illinois vs. Wisconsin · L 10–24; offense 53.3 percentile2017 Week 10: Illinois at Purdue · L 10–29; offense 12.4 percentile2017 Week 11: Illinois vs. Indiana · L 14–24; offense 26.8 percentile2017 Week 12: Illinois at Ohio State · L 14–52; offense 8.5 percentile2017 Week 13: Illinois vs. Northwestern · L 7–42; offense 10.5 percentile2018 Week 1: Illinois vs. Kent State · W 31–24; offense 41.6 percentile2018 Week 2: Illinois vs. Western Illinois · W 34–14; offense 7.2 percentile2018 Week 3: Illinois vs. South Florida · L 19–25; offense 28.2 percentile2018 Week 4: Illinois vs. Penn State · L 24–63; offense 49.9 percentile2018 Week 6: Illinois at Rutgers · W 38–17; offense 71.1 percentile2018 Week 7: Illinois vs. Purdue · L 7–46; offense 7.6 percentile2018 Week 8: Illinois at Wisconsin · L 20–49; offense 58.8 percentile2018 Week 9: Illinois at Maryland · L 33–63; offense 63.5 percentile2018 Week 10: Illinois vs. Minnesota · W 55–31; offense 97.3 percentile2018 Week 11: Illinois at Nebraska · L 35–54; offense 91.1 percentile2018 Week 12: Illinois vs. Iowa · L 0–63; offense 3.7 percentile2018 Week 13: Illinois at Northwestern · L 16–24; offense 69.1 percentile2019 Week 1: Illinois vs. Akron · W 42–3; offense 79.4 percentile2019 Week 2: Illinois at UConn · W 31–23; offense 8.6 percentile2019 Week 3: Illinois vs. Eastern Michigan · L 31–34; offense 52.5 percentile2019 Week 4: Illinois vs. Nebraska · L 38–42; offense 38.1 percentile2019 Week 6: Illinois at Minnesota · L 17–40; offense 20.0 percentile2019 Week 7: Illinois vs. Michigan · L 25–42; offense 17.1 percentile2019 Week 8: Illinois vs. Wisconsin · W 24–23; offense 48.5 percentile2019 Week 9: Illinois at Purdue · W 24–6; offense 14.0 percentile2019 Week 10: Illinois vs. Rutgers · W 38–10; offense 52.6 percentile2019 Week 11: Illinois at Michigan State · W 37–34; offense 40.7 percentile2019 Week 13: Illinois at Iowa · L 10–19; offense 47.4 percentile2019 Week 14: Illinois vs. Northwestern · L 10–29; offense 4.8 percentile2019 Week 1: Illinois vs. California · L 20–35; offense 55.4 percentile2020 Week 8: Illinois at Wisconsin · L 7–45; offense 31.4 percentile2020 Week 9: Illinois vs. Purdue · L 24–31; offense 35.7 percentile2020 Week 10: Illinois vs. Minnesota · L 14–41; offense 3.3 percentile2020 Week 11: Illinois at Rutgers · W 23–20; offense 49.6 percentile2020 Week 12: Illinois at Nebraska · W 41–23; offense 94.6 percentile2020 Week 14: Illinois vs. Iowa · L 21–35; offense 57.4 percentile2020 Week 15: Illinois at Northwestern · L 10–28; offense 30.1 percentile2020 Week 16: Illinois at Penn State · L 21–56; offense 25.2 percentile2021 Week 1: Illinois vs. Nebraska · W 30–22; offense 30.8 percentile2021 Week 1: Illinois vs. UTSA · L 30–37; offense 66.6 percentile2021 Week 2: Illinois at Virginia · L 14–42; offense 20.4 percentile2021 Week 4: Illinois at Purdue · L 9–13; offense 9.4 percentile2021 Week 5: Illinois vs. Charlotte · W 24–14; offense 69.6 percentile2021 Week 6: Illinois vs. Wisconsin · L 0–24; offense 4.7 percentile2021 Week 8: Illinois at Penn State · W 20–18; offense 71.3 percentile2021 Week 9: Illinois vs. Rutgers · L 14–20; offense 35.2 percentile2021 Week 10: Illinois at Minnesota · W 14–6; offense 57.3 percentile2021 Week 12: Illinois at Iowa · L 23–33; offense 48.2 percentile2021 Week 13: Illinois vs. Northwestern · W 47–14; offense 77.5 percentile2022 Week 1: Illinois vs. Wyoming · W 38–6; offense 65.9 percentile2022 Week 1: Illinois at Indiana · L 20–23; offense 25.6 percentile2022 Week 2: Illinois vs. Virginia · W 24–3; offense 46.1 percentile2022 Week 4: Illinois vs. Chattanooga · W 31–0; offense 37.4 percentile2022 Week 5: Illinois at Wisconsin · W 34–10; offense 53.7 percentile2022 Week 6: Illinois vs. Iowa · W 9–6; offense 69.9 percentile2022 Week 7: Illinois vs. Minnesota · W 26–14; offense 94.1 percentile2022 Week 9: Illinois at Nebraska · W 26–9; offense 48.9 percentile2022 Week 10: Illinois vs. Michigan State · L 15–23; offense 11.0 percentile2022 Week 11: Illinois vs. Purdue · L 24–31; offense 28.6 percentile2022 Week 12: Illinois at Michigan · L 17–19; offense 52.4 percentile2022 Week 13: Illinois at Northwestern · W 41–3; offense 48.5 percentile2022 Week 1: Illinois vs. Mississippi State · L 10–19; offense 16.9 percentile2023 Week 1: Illinois vs. Toledo · W 30–28; offense 88.9 percentile2023 Week 2: Illinois at Kansas · L 23–34; offense 75.2 percentile2023 Week 3: Illinois vs. Penn State · L 13–30; offense 67.4 percentile2023 Week 4: Illinois vs. Florida Atlantic · W 23–17; offense 71.4 percentile2023 Week 5: Illinois at Purdue · L 19–44; offense 30.3 percentile2023 Week 6: Illinois vs. Nebraska · L 7–20; offense 13.8 percentile2023 Week 7: Illinois at Maryland · W 27–24; offense 62.7 percentile2023 Week 8: Illinois vs. Wisconsin · L 21–25; offense 59.3 percentile2023 Week 10: Illinois at Minnesota · W 27–26; offense 48.8 percentile2023 Week 11: Illinois vs. Indiana · W 48–45; offense 86.5 percentile2023 Week 12: Illinois at Iowa · L 13–15; offense 45.1 percentile2023 Week 13: Illinois vs. Northwestern · L 43–45; offense 88.1 percentile2024 Week 1: Illinois vs. Eastern Illinois · W 45–0; offense 55.1 percentile2024 Week 2: Illinois vs. Kansas · W 23–17; offense 10.3 percentile2024 Week 3: Illinois vs. Central Michigan · W 30–9; offense 76.9 percentile2024 Week 4: Illinois at Nebraska · W 31–24; offense 80.9 percentile2024 Week 5: Illinois at Penn State · L 7–21; offense 28.3 percentile2024 Week 8: Illinois vs. Michigan · W 21–7; offense 67.6 percentile2024 Week 9: Illinois at Oregon · L 9–38; offense 43.3 percentile2024 Week 10: Illinois vs. Minnesota · L 17–25; offense 78.2 percentile2024 Week 12: Illinois vs. Michigan State · W 38–16; offense 71.0 percentile2024 Week 13: Illinois at Rutgers · W 38–31; offense 92.1 percentile2024 Week 14: Illinois vs. Northwestern · W 38–28; offense 77.2 percentile2024 Week 1: Illinois vs. South Carolina · W 21–17; offense 86.1 percentile2025 Week 1: Illinois vs. Western Illinois · W 52–3; offense 68.4 percentile2025 Week 2: Illinois at Duke · W 45–19; offense 53.4 percentile2025 Week 3: Illinois vs. Western Michigan · W 38–0; offense 92.7 percentile2025 Week 4: Illinois at Indiana · L 10–63; offense 20.0 percentile2025 Week 5: Illinois vs. USC · W 34–32; offense 98.4 percentile2025 Week 6: Illinois at Purdue · W 43–27; offense 48.5 percentile2025 Week 7: Illinois vs. Ohio State · L 16–34; offense 32.9 percentile2025 Week 9: Illinois at Washington · L 25–42; offense 95.7 percentile2025 Week 10: Illinois vs. Rutgers · W 35–13; offense 70.2 percentile2025 Week 12: Illinois vs. Maryland · W 24–6; offense 68.6 percentile2025 Week 13: Illinois at Wisconsin · L 10–27; offense 20.9 percentile2025 Week 14: Illinois vs. Northwestern · W 20–13; offense 43.4 percentile2025 Week 1: Illinois vs. Tennessee · W 30–28; offense 79.9 percentile2026 Week 1: Illinois vs. UAB · W 42–23; offense 63.2 percentile2026 Week 2: Illinois vs. Duke · L 27–31; offense 43.2 percentile2014 offense season mean: 41.3 percentile2015 offense season mean: 29.7 percentile2016 offense season mean: 25.7 percentile2017 offense season mean: 21.9 percentile2018 offense season mean: 48.1 percentile2019 offense season mean: 33.7 percentile2020 offense season mean: 39.6 percentile2021 offense season mean: 41.7 percentile2022 offense season mean: 46.2 percentile2023 offense season mean: 63.0 percentile2024 offense season mean: 65.4 percentile2025 offense season mean: 66.2 percentile2026 offense Bayesian estimate: 63.7 percentile2026 offense empirical mean: 53.3 percentiledefenseGame-grade percentile · higher is better9975502512014 Week 1: Illinois vs. Youngstown State · W 28–17; defense 29.8 percentile2014 Week 2: Illinois vs. Western Kentucky · W 42–34; defense 83.3 percentile2014 Week 3: Illinois at Washington · L 19–44; defense 29.2 percentile2014 Week 4: Illinois vs. Texas State · W 42–35; defense 63.4 percentile2014 Week 5: Illinois at Nebraska · L 14–45; defense 12.4 percentile2014 Week 6: Illinois vs. Purdue · L 27–38; defense 7.7 percentile2014 Week 7: Illinois at Wisconsin · L 28–38; defense 31.6 percentile2014 Week 9: Illinois vs. Minnesota · W 28–24; defense 69.2 percentile2014 Week 10: Illinois at Ohio State · L 14–55; defense 22.4 percentile2014 Week 12: Illinois vs. Iowa · L 14–30; defense 16.3 percentile2014 Week 13: Illinois vs. Penn State · W 16–14; defense 64.3 percentile2014 Week 14: Illinois at Northwestern · W 47–33; defense 42.7 percentile2014 Week 1: Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech · L 18–35; defense 54.6 percentile2015 Week 1: Illinois vs. Kent State · W 52–3; defense 86.3 percentile2015 Week 2: Illinois vs. Western Illinois · W 44–0; defense 71.3 percentile2015 Week 3: Illinois at North Carolina · L 14–48; defense 46.4 percentile2015 Week 4: Illinois vs. Middle Tennessee · W 27–25; defense 87.5 percentile2015 Week 5: Illinois vs. Nebraska · W 14–13; defense 86.4 percentile2015 Week 6: Illinois at Iowa · L 20–29; defense 58.9 percentile2015 Week 8: Illinois vs. Wisconsin · L 13–24; defense 47.3 percentile2015 Week 9: Illinois at Penn State · L 0–39; defense 31.8 percentile2015 Week 10: Illinois at Purdue · W 48–14; defense 73.0 percentile2015 Week 11: Illinois vs. Ohio State · L 3–28; defense 49.7 percentile2015 Week 12: Illinois at Minnesota · L 23–32; defense 16.2 percentile2015 Week 13: Illinois vs. Northwestern · L 14–24; defense 35.7 percentile2016 Week 1: Illinois vs. Murray State · W 52–3; defense 80.7 percentile2016 Week 2: Illinois vs. North Carolina · L 23–48; defense 33.5 percentile2016 Week 3: Illinois vs. Western Michigan · L 10–34; defense 59.7 percentile2016 Week 5: Illinois at Nebraska · L 16–31; defense 21.7 percentile2016 Week 6: Illinois vs. Purdue · L 31–34; defense 9.5 percentile2016 Week 7: Illinois at Rutgers · W 24–7; defense 24.4 percentile2016 Week 8: Illinois at Michigan · L 8–41; defense 39.4 percentile2016 Week 9: Illinois vs. Minnesota · L 17–40; defense 46.3 percentile2016 Week 10: Illinois vs. Michigan State · W 31–27; defense 49.3 percentile2016 Week 11: Illinois at Wisconsin · L 3–48; defense 13.8 percentile2016 Week 12: Illinois vs. Iowa · L 0–28; defense 64.6 percentile2016 Week 13: Illinois at Northwestern · L 21–42; defense 23.3 percentile2017 Week 1: Illinois vs. Ball State · W 24–21; defense 35.1 percentile2017 Week 2: Illinois vs. Western Kentucky · W 20–7; defense 97.9 percentile2017 Week 3: Illinois at South Florida · L 23–47; defense 9.1 percentile2017 Week 5: Illinois vs. Nebraska · L 6–28; defense 8.4 percentile2017 Week 6: Illinois at Iowa · L 16–45; defense 6.7 percentile2017 Week 7: Illinois vs. Rutgers · L 24–35; defense 6.0 percentile2017 Week 8: Illinois at Minnesota · L 17–24; defense 48.0 percentile2017 Week 9: Illinois vs. Wisconsin · L 10–24; defense 75.8 percentile2017 Week 10: Illinois at Purdue · L 10–29; defense 25.5 percentile2017 Week 11: Illinois vs. Indiana · L 14–24; defense 63.7 percentile2017 Week 12: Illinois at Ohio State · L 14–52; defense 34.6 percentile2017 Week 13: Illinois vs. Northwestern · L 7–42; defense 11.6 percentile2018 Week 1: Illinois vs. Kent State · W 31–24; defense 45.3 percentile2018 Week 2: Illinois vs. Western Illinois · W 34–14; defense 21.6 percentile2018 Week 3: Illinois vs. South Florida · L 19–25; defense 25.1 percentile2018 Week 4: Illinois vs. Penn State · L 24–63; defense 0.3 percentile2018 Week 6: Illinois at Rutgers · W 38–17; defense 53.8 percentile2018 Week 7: Illinois vs. Purdue · L 7–46; defense 10.3 percentile2018 Week 8: Illinois at Wisconsin · L 20–49; defense 16.7 percentile2018 Week 9: Illinois at Maryland · L 33–63; defense 3.6 percentile2018 Week 10: Illinois vs. Minnesota · W 55–31; defense 34.3 percentile2018 Week 11: Illinois at Nebraska · L 35–54; defense 3.2 percentile2018 Week 12: Illinois vs. Iowa · L 0–63; defense 8.8 percentile2018 Week 13: Illinois at Northwestern · L 16–24; defense 8.7 percentile2019 Week 1: Illinois vs. Akron · W 42–3; defense 76.1 percentile2019 Week 2: Illinois at UConn · W 31–23; defense 73.7 percentile2019 Week 3: Illinois vs. Eastern Michigan · L 31–34; defense 66.5 percentile2019 Week 4: Illinois vs. Nebraska · L 38–42; defense 29.3 percentile2019 Week 6: Illinois at Minnesota · L 17–40; defense 26.0 percentile2019 Week 7: Illinois vs. Michigan · L 25–42; defense 21.3 percentile2019 Week 8: Illinois vs. Wisconsin · W 24–23; defense 74.7 percentile2019 Week 9: Illinois at Purdue · W 24–6; defense 95.4 percentile2019 Week 10: Illinois vs. Rutgers · W 38–10; defense 42.4 percentile2019 Week 11: Illinois at Michigan State · W 37–34; defense 43.1 percentile2019 Week 13: Illinois at Iowa · L 10–19; defense 82.6 percentile2019 Week 14: Illinois vs. Northwestern · L 10–29; defense 2.6 percentile2019 Week 1: Illinois vs. California · L 20–35; defense 28.8 percentile2020 Week 8: Illinois at Wisconsin · L 7–45; defense 11.2 percentile2020 Week 9: Illinois vs. Purdue · L 24–31; defense 28.3 percentile2020 Week 10: Illinois vs. Minnesota · L 14–41; defense 1.8 percentile2020 Week 11: Illinois at Rutgers · W 23–20; defense 31.0 percentile2020 Week 12: Illinois at Nebraska · W 41–23; defense 49.8 percentile2020 Week 14: Illinois vs. Iowa · L 21–35; defense 14.6 percentile2020 Week 15: Illinois at Northwestern · L 10–28; defense 3.6 percentile2020 Week 16: Illinois at Penn State · L 21–56; defense 5.9 percentile2021 Week 1: Illinois vs. Nebraska · W 30–22; defense 65.7 percentile2021 Week 1: Illinois vs. UTSA · L 30–37; defense 25.6 percentile2021 Week 2: Illinois at Virginia · L 14–42; defense 16.9 percentile2021 Week 4: Illinois at Purdue · L 9–13; defense 79.4 percentile2021 Week 5: Illinois vs. Charlotte · W 24–14; defense 28.6 percentile2021 Week 6: Illinois vs. Wisconsin · L 0–24; defense 10.1 percentile2021 Week 8: Illinois at Penn State · W 20–18; defense 90.5 percentile2021 Week 9: Illinois vs. Rutgers · L 14–20; defense 20.4 percentile2021 Week 10: Illinois at Minnesota · W 14–6; defense 94.0 percentile2021 Week 12: Illinois at Iowa · L 23–33; defense 82.9 percentile2021 Week 13: Illinois vs. Northwestern · W 47–14; defense 70.8 percentile2022 Week 1: Illinois vs. Wyoming · W 38–6; defense 90.3 percentile2022 Week 1: Illinois at Indiana · L 20–23; defense 52.8 percentile2022 Week 2: Illinois vs. Virginia · W 24–3; defense 84.0 percentile2022 Week 4: Illinois vs. Chattanooga · W 31–0; defense 83.2 percentile2022 Week 5: Illinois at Wisconsin · W 34–10; defense 98.8 percentile2022 Week 6: Illinois vs. Iowa · W 9–6; defense 67.0 percentile2022 Week 7: Illinois vs. Minnesota · W 26–14; defense 61.0 percentile2022 Week 9: Illinois at Nebraska · W 26–9; defense 81.0 percentile2022 Week 10: Illinois vs. Michigan State · L 15–23; defense 58.4 percentile2022 Week 11: Illinois vs. Purdue · L 24–31; defense 31.1 percentile2022 Week 12: Illinois at Michigan · L 17–19; defense 96.9 percentile2022 Week 13: Illinois at Northwestern · W 41–3; defense 81.5 percentile2022 Week 1: Illinois vs. Mississippi State · L 10–19; defense 59.4 percentile2023 Week 1: Illinois vs. Toledo · W 30–28; defense 33.6 percentile2023 Week 2: Illinois at Kansas · L 23–34; defense 8.0 percentile2023 Week 3: Illinois vs. Penn State · L 13–30; defense 62.9 percentile2023 Week 4: Illinois vs. Florida Atlantic · W 23–17; defense 65.1 percentile2023 Week 5: Illinois at Purdue · L 19–44; defense 7.8 percentile2023 Week 6: Illinois vs. Nebraska · L 7–20; defense 76.0 percentile2023 Week 7: Illinois at Maryland · W 27–24; defense 58.3 percentile2023 Week 8: Illinois vs. Wisconsin · L 21–25; defense 33.8 percentile2023 Week 10: Illinois at Minnesota · W 27–26; defense 65.8 percentile2023 Week 11: Illinois vs. Indiana · W 48–45; defense 2.1 percentile2023 Week 12: Illinois at Iowa · L 13–15; defense 47.8 percentile2023 Week 13: Illinois vs. Northwestern · L 43–45; defense 3.6 percentile2024 Week 1: Illinois vs. Eastern Illinois · W 45–0; defense 64.4 percentile2024 Week 2: Illinois vs. Kansas · W 23–17; defense 62.8 percentile2024 Week 3: Illinois vs. Central Michigan · W 30–9; defense 56.2 percentile2024 Week 4: Illinois at Nebraska · W 31–24; defense 31.1 percentile2024 Week 5: Illinois at Penn State · L 7–21; defense 49.6 percentile2024 Week 8: Illinois vs. Michigan · W 21–7; defense 59.3 percentile2024 Week 9: Illinois at Oregon · L 9–38; defense 6.7 percentile2024 Week 10: Illinois vs. Minnesota · L 17–25; defense 31.7 percentile2024 Week 12: Illinois vs. Michigan State · W 38–16; defense 42.7 percentile2024 Week 13: Illinois at Rutgers · W 38–31; defense 36.0 percentile2024 Week 14: Illinois vs. Northwestern · W 38–28; defense 24.5 percentile2024 Week 1: Illinois vs. South Carolina · W 21–17; defense 57.1 percentile2025 Week 1: Illinois vs. Western Illinois · W 52–3; defense 80.5 percentile2025 Week 2: Illinois at Duke · W 45–19; defense 47.5 percentile2025 Week 3: Illinois vs. Western Michigan · W 38–0; defense 99.1 percentile2025 Week 4: Illinois at Indiana · L 10–63; defense 3.5 percentile2025 Week 5: Illinois vs. USC · W 34–32; defense 53.7 percentile2025 Week 6: Illinois at Purdue · W 43–27; defense 26.9 percentile2025 Week 7: Illinois vs. Ohio State · L 16–34; defense 56.2 percentile2025 Week 9: Illinois at Washington · L 25–42; defense 2.6 percentile2025 Week 10: Illinois vs. Rutgers · W 35–13; defense 88.3 percentile2025 Week 12: Illinois vs. Maryland · W 24–6; defense 89.1 percentile2025 Week 13: Illinois at Wisconsin · L 10–27; defense 11.5 percentile2025 Week 14: Illinois vs. Northwestern · W 20–13; defense 64.4 percentile2025 Week 1: Illinois vs. Tennessee · W 30–28; defense 43.6 percentile2026 Week 1: Illinois vs. UAB · W 42–23; defense 29.1 percentile2026 Week 2: Illinois vs. Duke · L 27–31; defense 29.5 percentile2014 defense season mean: 38.6 percentile2015 defense season mean: 59.0 percentile2016 defense season mean: 37.2 percentile2017 defense season mean: 32.7 percentile2018 defense season mean: 13.5 percentile2019 defense season mean: 50.6 percentile2020 defense season mean: 13.6 percentile2021 defense season mean: 54.7 percentile2022 defense season mean: 77.7 percentile2023 defense season mean: 32.3 percentile2024 defense season mean: 41.9 percentile2025 defense season mean: 51.5 percentile2026 defense Bayesian estimate: 46.8 percentile2026 defense empirical mean: 29.3 percentile2014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Individual gameSeason bar · 2026 is the estimate2026 empirical meanCoaching-era band
2015Bill Cubit
2016Lovie Smith
2020Lovie Smith / Rod Smith
2021Bret Bielema

How to read 2026

The current-season estimate intelligently blends last season with new data.

The 2026 estimate is a Bayesian weighted average of normal-score Z-values. The 2025 season mean counts like 8 games of prior evidence; each completed 2026 game counts once. The result is then translated back to the 0–100 percentile scale.

2026 Z = (8 × 2025 mean Z + games played × 2026 mean Z) ÷ (8 + games played)

Season record

Every annual grade and coach

Retrospective rows average the available single-game grades in normal-score space. The result is shown as a percentile. Roughly speaking, a 95th-percentile season corresponds to about the eighth-best team in a 160-team field.

SeasonHead coachGamesOffenseDefense
2026Live estimateBret Bielema2
63.7 estimate53.3 games-only average
46.8 estimate29.3 games-only average
2025Bret Bielema1366.251.5
2024Bret Bielema1265.441.9
2023Bret Bielema1263.032.3
2022Bret Bielema1346.277.7
2021Bret BielemaCoaching change1141.754.7
2020Lovie Smith / Rod SmithCoaching change839.613.6
2019Lovie Smith1333.750.6
2018Lovie Smith1248.113.5
2017Lovie Smith1221.932.7
2016Lovie SmithCoaching change1225.737.2
2015Bill CubitCoaching change1229.759.0
2014Tim Beckman1341.338.6