FanBoardHQ

Illinois

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · 2025 · Big Ten

FanBoardHQ CFP
#18
Efficiency
+12.2
25th FBS
Record
9-4
Conf. record
5-4
Conf. finish
T-7th
of 18
Illinois Fanboard →

Illinois went 9-4 and was ranked 18th in the FanBoardHQ CFP Rankings (blended resume and efficiency). Their 14th-ranked offense was the engine, backed by a 55th-ranked defense. They ran the ball on 52% of offensive plays with a 50th-ranked rushing attack and passed the ball on the remaining 48% of plays with a 13th-ranked passing attack.

Quadrant record

By opponent strength, adjusted for where the game was played.

Q1
2-3
Q2
1-0
Q3
2-1
Q4
4-0

Projected wins

Per-game win probabilities combined across the full schedule.

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Expected: 9.0 wins
Strength of Record
17th
+1.2 wins above a 25th-ranked team's expectation
Strength of Schedule
to date
20th
full season
20th
CFP committee
Unranked
FanBoardHQ has them 8 spots higher
Conf. sched. difficulty
28th
a 25th-ranked team would win ~4.9 conference games on this schedule

The resume

Every game on the schedule. Click a row for the game breakdown (played) or the matchup projection (upcoming).

WkOpponentConfOpp rankResultExp. marginWin probGameScoreQuad
1vs Western IllinoisOVC-Big SouthW 523+45.1100%12.5Q4
2@ DukeACC#44W 4519+4.7100%29.0Q2
3vs Western MichiganMid-American#50W 380+15.3100%30.4Q4
4@ IndianaBig Ten#1L 1063-22.20%-9.1Q1
5vs USCBig Ten#17W 3432-3.2100%18.1Q1
6@ PurdueBig Ten#111W 4327+12.0100%13.3Q3
7vs Ohio StateBig Ten#4L 1634-13.80%2.2Q1
9@ WashingtonBig Ten#20L 2542-8.60%-1.2Q1
10vs RutgersBig Ten#72W 3513+15.4100%26.9Q4
12vs MarylandBig Ten#94W 246+15.6100%17.4Q4
13@ WisconsinBig Ten#74L 1027+8.40%-13.0Q3
14vs NorthwesternBig Ten#49W 2013+11.3100%7.1Q3
Postseason
vs TennesseeSEC#33W 3028-1.9100%22.1Q1

13 played · 9-4. Expected margin and gamescore use the latest ratings — a completed game shows what the model would say now, not that week.

The season

The model’s read on Illinois, recomputed after every week. Toggle between overall, offensive, and defensive efficiency (each with a dot for that week’s game) or the FanBoardHQ CFP rank.

-9.5+8.7+26.9122930-918132-12717-137Week 0Week 20
Line = the model's read each week; dots = that week's game (green above the line, red below).

Passing & rushing

Opponent-adjusted, FBS-only. The bar is the blended Eff rank — EPA/play (scoring value), success rate (staying on schedule), and yards/play (explosiveness), each standardized against the FBS field. The three ranks below each bar are those components, so you can see what's driving it.

Offense
PassingEff 13th
SR 16thYPP 21stEPA 11th
RushingEff 50th
SR 21stYPP 88thEPA 55th
Defense
Pass defenseEff 60th
SR 89thYPP 26thEPA 73rd
Rush defenseEff 41st
SR 41stYPP 32ndEPA 49th
Dropback rate 48%Tempo +0.7 snaps/game vs. averageFaced pass defenses ranked 56th on average
Success rate by down

Their offense vs. what their defense allows.

1st · Offense: 46%1st · Defense allowed: 44%1st2nd · Offense: 53%2nd · Defense allowed: 46%2nd3rd/4th · Offense: 47%3rd/4th · Defense allowed: 48%3rd/4th
OffenseDefense allowed
Points by quarter

Scored vs. allowed, all regular-season games.

Q1 · Scored: 62.0Q1 · Allowed: 68.0Q1Q2 · Scored: 130.0Q2 · Allowed: 77.0Q2Q3 · Scored: 92.0Q3 · Allowed: 63.0Q3Q4 · Scored: 84.0Q4 · Allowed: 86.0Q4
ScoredAllowed

What kind of team is this?

Every team by offensive and defensive efficiency (points/game vs. an average team, higher is better on both). Click a dot for that team.

elite bothdefense-ledrebuildingoffense-ledIllinoisOffenseDefense
Illinois Offense vs Defense, 2025
Offensive EffRanked 14th
+9.7
Field position: +1.4Finishing drives: +8.3
Field position +1.4Finishing drives +8.3= +9.7
Offensive Eff efficiency split into field position and finishing

Field position 26th · Finishing 16th

Defensive EffRanked 55th
+1.9
Field position: +1.0Finishing drives: +0.8
Field position +1.0Finishing drives +0.8= +1.9
Defensive Eff efficiency split into field position and finishing

Field position 36th · Finishing 62nd

2.78 points per drive on offense, 2.11 allowed — starting, on average, at their own 31.

Play-calling & efficiency

What the offense did, by quarter and by down — raw, not opponent-adjusted.

By quarter
Quarter (att.)Pass / rushSuccessYd/play
Q1(176)52% / 48%47%5.2
Q2(245)56% / 44%50%6.5
Q3(198)48% / 52%49%6.6
Q4(199)37% / 63%47%5.6
how play-calling and results shifted through games — (n) = plays, season total
Passing by down
Down (att.)Avg. to goSuccessYd/play
1st(161)9.950%7.3
2nd(129)8.755%9.9
3rd(97)7.839%4.3
4th(12)5.942%4.7
All (399)49%7.3
Rushing by down
Down (att.)Avg. to goSuccessYd/play
1st(211)9.744%4.9
2nd(145)6.750%5.1
3rd(52)3.956%4.6
4th(11)2.673%0.3
All (419)48%4.8

Illinois, all games.

Illinois Football 2025 — Efficiency & Rankings · FanBoardHQ