With the Big Ten expanding and adding four new teams, Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington, the Big Ten has shifted away from divisions and created a new scheduling format. How does that change the Illinois schedule?
Illinois 2024 Football Schedule
A full breakdown of the Illinois Fighting Illini‘s schedule is below:
- vs. TBA
Saturday, August 31, 2024
- vs. Kansas Jayhawks
Saturday, September 7, 2024
- vs. Central Michigan Chippewas
Saturday, September 14, 2024
- at Nebraska Cornhuskers
Saturday, September 21, 2024
- at Penn State Nittany Lions
Saturday, September 28, 2024
- TBA
Saturday, October 5, 2024
- vs. Purdue Boilermakers
Saturday, October 12, 2024
- vs. Michigan Wolverines
Saturday, October 19, 2024
- at Oregon Ducks
Saturday, October 26, 2024
- vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers
Saturday, November 2, 2024
- TBA
Saturday, November 9, 2024
- vs. Michigan State Spartans
Saturday, November 16th, 2024
- at Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Saturday, November 23, 2024
- at Northwestern Wildcats
Saturday, November 30, 2024
The 2024 Big Ten football season will feature a combination of protected opponents and rotating opponents for each university. Each member institution will continue to play nine intraconference games per season, and teams will play every other conference opponent at least twice – once home and once away – and will play rotating opponents no more than three times in five years.
MORE: 2024 Big Ten Schedule
Conference schedules will include 12 protected matchups that will continue to be played annually and feature a combination of historic and geographic rivalries, as well as trophy games. These matchups were finalized in conjunction with all 18 member institutions to ensure the traditions of the Big Ten Conference remain strong as the conference evolves.
For Illinois, their guaranteed annual matchups will be their games against the Northwestern Wildcats and the Purdue Boilermakers. Their only matchup against a new expansion team in 2024 will be traveling to take on the Oregon Ducks in October.
The Fighting Illini drew a favorable home stretch in 2024 but will have to travel to take on Nebraska, Penn State, and Oregon in some of college football’s toughest environments.