After playing their first game of bowling under head coach Bret Bielema, Illinois Fighting Illini will turn their attention to preparations for the exciting 2023 campaign in Champaign.
Illinois eventually lost Monday’s ReliaQuest Bowl to the Mississippi State Bulldogs, their third straight playoff loss. They have not won a bowling game since the 2011 Fight Hunger Bowl against UCLA after a 19-10 loss to the Bulldogs in Tampa Bay.
Exactly eight months from Monday, the Illini open their 2023 season at home at Memorial Stadium when they take on the Toledo Rockets, following a performance in the Boca Raton Bowl, which they won 21-19 against Liberty.
The Illini will also travel to Lawrence to face Kansas, who lost in triple overtime to Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl.
Of the conference games scheduled this year, Illinois will face Penn State, a team that lost just two games in the 2022 season before earning a Rose Bowl berth. This will be the opening of their conference on September 16 in Champaign.
The Illini will also travel to Lafayette to take on Purdue, the team that kept them from clinching a West Division title and a spot in the Big Ten title game this season. This competition will take place on September 30.
The Illini will play host to the Wisconsin Badgers, Indiana Hoosiers and Northwest Wildcats in Champaign this season as they take a road trip up the East Coast to Maryland in mid-October. Road games against Minnesota and Iowa could mean a tough November for Illinois over time.
Overall, Illinois will play seven games against bowl-eligible teams in 2022.
Here is the full match schedule.
Notes: All Illinois games are currently scheduled for Saturday in the 2023 season. No game times have been set.
September 2: against Toledo
Sept. 9: Kansas
Sept. 16: v. Penn State
September 23: v. Florida Atlantic
Sept. 30: at Purdue
October 7: against Nebraska
October 14: in Maryland
October 21: v. Wisconsin
October 28: Goodbye
November 4: Minnesota
Nov 11: v. Indiana
November 18: in Iowa
November 25: vs. Northwest
NBC Chicago
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