The Illinois Fighting Illini have added Akron, Charlotte, UTSA, and Wyoming to their future football schedules, FBSchedules.com has learned via a FOIA request to the school.
Illinois will host all four opponents at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. Akron will visit on Aug. 31, 2019, Charlotte on Oct. 2, 2021, UTSA on Sept. 4, 2021, and Wyoming on Sept. 17, 2022.
Akron, UTSA, and Wyoming will each receive a $1.1 million guarantee, while Charlotte will receive $1.2 million, according to copies of the game contracts.
The addition of Akron, Charlotte, UTSA, and Wyoming tentatively completes Illinois’ non-conference football schedule through the 2022 season. Of the 21 non-conference games the Illini will play, only three are against teams from the Power Five (UNC in 2016 and Virginia in 2021-22).
Illinois will play all three of their non-conference games at home in even years and will play one game on the road in odd years. That is due to the Big Ten moving to a nine-game schedule, which will have Illinois playing five road conference games in even years.
The Fighting Illini previously announced future home-and-home series with Kansas for 2023 and 2024 and with Duke for 2025 and 2026.
Go Niners! Nice to get a game against a Big 10 opponent.
Illinois goal is to get to 6 wins per year in order to make a crappy bowl game. They achieve that goal every 3 years or so. To compete for the Big Ten championship and go to an attractive bowl is a pipe dream. Sad, but true. The unattractive non league schedule over the next several years confirms this. This is not your Dick Butkus team.
Everything that Illinois needs to prove can be done in a 9 game B1G schedule. There is no point to giving more than 1 opponent a Home and Home series each year. You’re playing the same amount of Power 5 teams as most SEC teams. These games are nothing to complain about.
The Niners getting paid for a winnable game against a B10 opponent, sounds good to me.
Must recruit top players in order to compete; sorely lacking here.