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CHAMPAIGN — The Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll won’t come out for a week.
But the USA Today preseason Coaches poll arrived on Monday, and Illinois football checks in at No. 12 in that initial poll.
This is the first time the Illini, who finished 10-3 last season, won the Citrus Bowl and have double-digit starters returning for the 2025 season, have been ranked in the Coaches preseason poll since they were No. 19 in 2008.
Illinois is one of six Big Ten teams in the poll, with Ohio State at No. 2, Penn State at No. 3, Oregon at No. 7, Michigan at No. 14 and Indiana at No. 18. The Illini host Ohio State on Oct. 11 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign and play at Indiana at Sept. 20.
Texas is the No. 1 team in the preseason Coaches poll for the first time.
The No. 12 ranking marks the second-highest ranking in Illini football history since the preseason Coaches Poll started in 1978, with only Illini teams in 1985 (No. 10) and 1990 (No. 12) ranked higher.
Also on Monday, Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer found his name among 46 players on the Walter Camp Player of the Year watch list. Altmyer is one of 16 starters returning for Bret Bielema’s fifth team, and the senior threw for 2,717 yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions in starting all 13 games last season at Illinois.
Altmyer is the second Illini player in the program’s history named to the Walter Camp Player of the Year watch list after defensive lineman Johnny Newton was in 2023. Former Illini running back Chase Brown was a semifinalist for the award in 2022.
Started in 1967, former Colorado two-way standout Travis Hunter won the Walter Camp Player of the Year in 2024. Altmyer is one of 22 quarterbacks on the watch list for this particular award and one of 10 players from the Big Ten.
Illinois opens its season at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 against Western Illinois at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.
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