If you're a Big Ten team, there's a good chance you're playing the Illini on Homecoming.
The Big Ten announced the opponents and kick times for all 14 teams' Homecoming games on Wednesday, and Illinois was the most popular opponent, serving as the foe for a whopping four Homecoming tilts. Nebraska, Rutgers, Michigan and Wisconsin will all play host to Illinois in their respective Homecoming games.
The Illini's not-so-glamorous record over the past several years surely has a lot to do with it. Schools typically pick games they have a good chance of winning to serve as Homecoming bouts, with plenty of partying alumni and fans in attendance. No good party is complete without a win, after all. And thanks to Illinois' gruesome 38-90 conference mark in the 21st century — a 16-year stretch that's seen the team post an above-.500 league record just twice — teams see the Illini as a good bet for a "W."
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So it's up to Lovie Smith to prove them wrong in his first year on the job in Champaign.
Northwestern and Rutgers each serve as the opponent in multiple Homecoming games, too, with two apiece on the schedule. The other six games see home teams welcoming in Purdue, Maryland, Iowa, Nebraska, Indiana and Minnesota.
Illinois' Homecoming game comes Oct. 29 against Minnesota.
