Where Illinois Football Lands on Joel Klaat's Post-Spring Top 25 for 2025

College football analyst and podcaster Klaat loves the Illini's experience and says, "They're gonna be damn good."

Dec 31, 2024; Orlando, FL, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini running back Josh McCray (6) runs for the touchdown against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the fourth quarter at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images | Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images

'Tis the season for way-too-early college football predictions, awards and rankings. Although history has demonstrated that these expert prognostications hold about as much water as a nose tackle in August two-a-days, by gawd, they're fun to talk about.

Which brings us to the latest five-months-ahead-of-the-games forecast: Joel Klaat's Post-Spring Top 25, which was released by the CFB analyst and podcaster on Monday.

For Illinois' football fans, the interesting takeaway wasn't the Illini's ranking – Klaat places them at No. 10, which falls in roughly the same range as their spot on most spring rankings.

"Illinois ... sneaky-, sneaky-good team," Klaat said on his podcast revealing his spring list. "This No. 10 ranking should signal that to everybody."

Thoughts on @joelklatt’s Post-Spring Top 25? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/tUUwuHp7vi

— The Joel Klatt Show: A CFB Pod (@JoelKlattShow) May 5, 2025

What's of more interest than the number itself, however, why Klaat slots Illinois as a top-10 team. Again, none of this is breaking news. But Klaat's summary, delivered within the context of college football's other projected top programs in 2025, puts a fine point on the Illini's true potential next season.

Of course Illinois fans want to believe. What Klaat's analysis shows is that they should.

"They've got the experience in the right places to be a really good football team, and they've got the schedule that's going to land them, probably, in the College Football Playoff," Klaat said. "Bielema is building exactly what you would expect him to build at Illinois: tough, hard-nosed team."

Illinois will return 16 starters from last year's young but surprisingly resilient 10-win club. Although playmaking receiver Pat Bryant is off to the NFL, quarterback Luke Altmyer is back – and Klaat believes Bielema has the replacements at receiver to give Altmyer the targets he needs for the Illini to take the next step.

"I love this experience metric as we get further and further into the NIL and transfer portal era," Klaat said.

The scheduling stars have aligned for Illinois, which misses Penn State, Oregon and Michigan this season. Ohio State is the only opponent on the Illini's schedule that landed in Klaat's top 25.

Klaat lumps the Illini in with some pretty good company – or at least adds them to the conversation, based on the favorability of that schedule and, especially, the seasoning of their roster.

"What do we see? Michigan. Experience. Win the national championship. Ohio State. Experience, Win the national championship. Illinois. Experience. Maybe they don't win the national championship, but they're gonna be damn good."

BREAKING: My Post-Spring Top 25 for CFB 2025 is here @JoelKlattShow
- Playoff darkhorse
- Heisman discussion
- The National Championship blueprint https://t.co/WMegL1H3Bx

— Joel Klatt (@joelklatt) May 5, 2025

More From Illinois on Sports Illustrated:

Former Illinois Receiver Scores Touchdown in UFL for Second Straight Week

Illinois Football Backup Offensive Lineman Transfers to Big Ten Rival

Illinois Quarterback Luke Altmyer Named Top-10 Impact Returner by ESPN