Illini Open 2020 Season at Wisconsin

Illinois will open its new 2020 fall football schedule at Camp Randall Stadium in Wisconsin on Oct. 24th weekend.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois will open its 2020 football schedule with the return game following easily the most noteworthy win of Lovie Smith’s tenure with the Illini program.

Illinois will open at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison against Wisconsin just 371 days after the Illini one of the biggest upsets in Big Ten history last season with a 24-23 victory over then-No. 6 Wisconsin on Oct. 19, 2019. Illinois entered the day as a 30-point underdog before Jake McCourt's 39-yard field goal as time expired sent Illini fans rushing to the Memorial Stadium field to celebrate a victory over a Badgers program that would eventually end up as the Western Division champion and in the 2020 Rose Bowl. Illinois will be attempting to win at Camp Randall, which will be empty this season due to Big Ten’s coronavirus medical protocols presented Wednesday in its announcement of the league’s return to fall football, for the first time since a 37-20 victory in 2002. 

Wisconsin was ranked No. 11 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll but was removed from the rankings after the opening weekend of games due to the Big Ten still having its season still postponed due to COVID-19 concerns by the league's Council of Presidents and Chancellors. 

The conference’s nine-game in nine week schedule was first announced on Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff pre-game show Saturday morning. Special date games, including Fridays, television selections and game times will be determined and announced by the league office at a later date.

The 2020 season will be the latest start to the Illini football campaign in the 131-year history of the program. The previous latest start was Oct. 19, 1907 (L, 42-6 vs. Chicago) and this will be the first time Illinois has started the season in October since Oct. 4, 1941, a 45-0 win over Miami (Ohio).

After the opener at Wisconsin, Illinois will host two games in a row against Western Division foes as Purdue and Minnesota come to Memorial Stadium in Champaign. Both the Boilermakers and Gophers programs are investigating the possibility of trying to get talented wide receivers eligible for this 2020 season after Purdue’s Rondale Moore and Minnesota’s Rashod Bateman announced earlier this summer they’d be focusing on the upcoming NFL draft. Minnesota announced Friday, via a statement from head coach P.J. Fleck, that Bateman was still enrolled in classes, eligible to practice and working with Minnesota’s compliance office to get eligible for game action. Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm said Wednesday night that “anything is possible” when asked if Moore could return to the Boilermakers program for his junior season.

The second and third week of November will be road games for the Illini as they travel to Rutgers and Nebraska. The Illini have a two-game winning streak in Piscataway, N.J. under head coach Lovie Smith after wins in 2016 and 2018. Illinois haven’t won in Lincoln, Neb., since 1924 and despite the struggles of the Cornhuskers in recent years, have failed to win against Nebraska under Smith’s tenure.

In the original Big Ten schedule released just five days after the fall season was postponed, Ohio State was slated to come to Memorial Stadium as part of a Thursday night opening game on Sept. 3. In this new 2020 schedule version, the Buckeyes won’t be making its trip to Champaign until Thanksgiving weekend as they play at Illinois on Nov. 28. The last time Illinois beat Ohio State at home was a 10-7 victory in 1991. Illinois will follow that game with their final scheduled home game against Iowa as they attempt to end a six-game losing streak to the Hawkeyes. Iowa has won 11 of its last 12 games against Illinois including a 63-0 blowout win in its last trip to Champaign in 2018.

The annual rivalry game against Northwestern, for the Land of Lincoln Trophy, will be played at Ryan Field in Evanston on Dec. 12. Northwestern has won seven of its last eight games against Illinois including its only conference win last season.

The final ninth game of the 2020 season will be on the Dec. 19 “Championship Weekend” concept that will be against a crossover game against an opponent to be determined by the final league standings.