Which Illinois Feuds Landed in The Athletic's Top 100 College Football Rivalries

The Illini have two matchups that have gone down in the college football history books – and both will be revived in 2025

Nov 30, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini running back Aidan Laughery (21) runs for a touchdown against Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Illinois has a handful of meaningful rivalries on the hardwood – many of which date back more than 100 years. There's Indiana, Purdue and Northwestern. Things can get squirrely with Iowa, and Illini fans always find reserves of rancor for Michigan. There's also the border-state rivalry with Missouri, and now the pot is starting to boil with Tennessee.

Flipping over to the gridiron, Illinois has a shorter list of fiery rivalries – though The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman thought enough of two to include them in a ranking of college football’s 100 best rivalries.

A quick examination:

Ohio State-Illinois: No. 84

The Buckeyes lead the series 69-30-4

Although the days when this matchup was circled on the calendar are long forgotten, the Illini and Buckeyes used to share one of the Big Ten’s fiercest rivalries. The programs compete for the Illibuck Trophy in this contest, which is the conference's second-oldest trophy, according to Dochterman.

For 88 years (1914-2002), Illinois and Ohio State met every year – until the league altered the conference schedule. This fall marks the first outing between the schools since 2017.

With elevated expectations and home-field advantage for the Illini this season, and with the Buckeyes fresh off a national title, their Oct. 11 matchup in Champaign may go down as one of the best – and at the very least, most impactful for each team’s postseason outlook – in rivalry history.

Illinois-Northwestern: No. 70

The Illini lead the series 58-55-5

The top in-state college football counterparts, Illinois and Northwestern have met a voluminous 118 times – including every year since 1927. As Dochterman notes, the schools are “rarely good concurrently,” evident over the past six outings. During that stretch, just one game has been decided by single digits, and two were 30-plus point wins for the Illini.

AIDAN LAUGHERY IS GONE!!! 👏@IlliniFootball extend their lead!! pic.twitter.com/HmhDI0rqSP

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 30, 2024

Another interesting anecdote: “It’s tied for fourth among the Big Ten’s most-played series," Dochterman writes, "but they have never met while both ranked in the AP poll.”

Illinois, winners of three of the past four meetings, appears poised to continue its recent domination of Northwestern this fall in a late-November matchup in Champaign.

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