Illinois Football to Play Big Ten Rival at Wrigley Field

Illinois Football to Play Big Ten Rival at Wrigley Field

Football season is just around the corner! Though it may seem that Illinois Basketball just lost in the Elite Eight to UCONN, the summer months are just a couple of weeks away. Schedules are slowing rolling out in both the NFL and College football to help build some buzz heading into the summer offseason. On X, Northwestern Football released a graphic regarding its upcoming season. The graphic showed that they will play Illinois Football for the Land of Lincoln trophy at Wrigley Field. This will be the first time that the in-state foes will play the game at Wrigley Field since 2015. In that game, Illinois Football lost to Northwestern 24-14.

It's Here.

Complete 2024 Schedule pic.twitter.com/N99dQBgd1N

— Northwestern Football (@NUFBFamily) May 15, 2024

Hopefully some buzz.

Unfortunately, the Land of Lincoln game has not been all that memorable for the two programs. During the latter years of the Pat Fitzgerald era, Illinois football won rather easily. In 2021 and 2022, Illinois Football dominated the Northwestern Wildcats. After Pat Fitzgerald left Northwestern, however, the Illini dropped an absolute heartbreaker to fall out of bowl eligibility. Muffed punts and weird end-of-game rallies caused Bret Bielema and his crew to fall short.

Both teams are in for very key seasons. Bret Bielema must make a bowl game in year four to sustain recruiting momentum. David Braun is also out to show that his year one results were not a fluke.

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