Illinois Football Coach Bret Bielema Takes Playful Jab at ESPN Pundit

Bielema challenges Adam Rittenberg's take on where the Illini fit into the 2025 preseason rankings

Nov 11, 2023; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema reacts to a call during the second half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

As he showed in Illinois' New Year's Eve Citrus Bowl win over South Carolina, Illini coach Bret Bielema doesn't mind a bit of verbal sparring on the field.

But if you hadn't noticed, Bielema is also happy to engage in the discourse on social media, whether it's with other coaches, fans or, in the case of a Monday reply tweet from his X social account, the college football media:

Come on @ESPNRittenberg if #20 team beat a top 15 team and returns 18/22 starters and they get ranked outside of the top ten next season…. I have some ocean front property in Champaign I would like to sell you #famILLy #ILL #keepstackindays https://t.co/rYPCRjuJD7

— Bret Bielema (@BretBielema) January 7, 2025

After ESPN's Adam Rittenberg noted the trend of eligible impact players eschewing the NFL Draft and transfer portal to return to Illinois in 2025, using the occasion of linebacker Gabe Jacas' announcement of his own return, Bielema reacted to what he considered the Illini being damned with faint praise.

"Outside linebacker Gabe Jacas the latest notable Illinois player to announce his return for 2025," Rittenberg posted to his X account. "Jacas was third-team All-Big Ten and very noticeable with his size and quickness. Illinois absolutely belongs in the preseason top 15/20."

Bielema, who is expected to welcome back 16 starters to Champaign in 2025 (plus two more promoted to duty for the Citrus Bowl), took a good-natured swipe at Rittenberg's assessment of Illinois' fit in his projected rankings.

"Come on @AdamRittenberg if #20 team beat a top 15 team and returns 18/22 starters and they get ranked outside of the top ten next season…. I have some ocean front property in Champaign I would like to sell you."

Of course, the math is never that simple for these equations. (Shouldn't unranked Michigan, only a year removed from a national championship and coming off a win over No. 11 Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl, have an argument to be highly ranked after addressing its most pressing need – quarterback – with the No. 1 recruit of 2025 in Bryce Underwood?) For every spot available near the top of the rankings, there are three programs with rational arguments detailing why they deserve one.

Rittenberg's reply and final word to Bielema on the subject: "Happens all the time because of brand bias, Coach B. Not saying it’s right but be prepared. The preseason polls are so wrong on so many levels."

Rittenberg seemed to retreat from giving his own opinion on where Illinois "belongs" in the preseason rankings to blaming college football politics for where the Illini can be expected to land in the initial AP poll. Although a bit of a fence – or maybe just an escape hatch from the conversation – the sentiment wasn't wrong.

The 2025 Illini, who return a roster laden with experience and sprinkled with NFL-level talent after a breakthrough 10-win season, should be afforded a high ranking in the polls – maybe even, as Bielema suggests, a spot in the top 10. Yet, as Rittenberg alludes to, blueblood- and SEC-enamored AP voters probably will undersell Illinois.

In any case, this probably won't be the last we hear from Bielema on the subject.

More From Illinois on Sports Illustrated:

Linebacker Gabe Jacas Commits to 2025 Return to Illinois Football

Illinois DB Xavier Scott Announces Return for 2025 Season

J.C. Davis Returns to Illinois Football to Shore Up Offensive Line

Illinois Football Stuns South Carolina in Program-Shifting Citrus Bowl Upset