2016 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

2016 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Conference	Big Ten Conference West Division
2016 record	0–0 (0–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lovie Smith (1st year)
Offensive coordinator	Garrick McGee (1st year)
Defensive coordinator	Hardy Nickerson (1st year)
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 60,670)

2016 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Indiana		0	–	0					0	–	0
Maryland		0	–	0					0	–	0
Michigan		0	–	0					0	–	0
Michigan State		0	–	0					0	–	0
Ohio State		0	–	0					0	–	0
Penn State		0	–	0					0	–	0
Rutgers		0	–	0					0	–	0
West Division
Illinois		0	–	0					0	–	0
Iowa		0	–	0					0	–	0
Minnesota		0	–	0					0	–	0
Nebraska		0	–	0					0	–	0
Northwestern		0	–	0					0	–	0
Purdue		0	–	0					0	–	0
Wisconsin		0	–	0					0	–	0
Championship: December 3, 2016
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 2016 Illinois Fighting Illini football team will represent the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They are led by first year head coach Lovie Smith and play their home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. They are members of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference.

Schedule

Illinois announced its 2016 football schedule on July 11, 2013. The 2016 schedule consists of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Fighting Illini will host Big Ten foes Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, and Purdue, and will travel to Michigan, Nebraska, Northwestern, Rutgers, and Wisconsin.

The team will host all three non–conference games which are against the Murray State Racers from the Ohio Valley Conference, North Carolina Tar Heels from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and the Western Michigan Broncos from the Mid-American Conference (MAC).

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3		Murray State*		Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL
September 10	6:30 PM	North Carolina*		Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL	BTN
September 17		Western Michigan*		Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL
October 1	2:30 PM	at Nebraska		Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE
October 8		Purdue		Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL (Rivalry)
October 15	11:00 AM	at Rutgers		High Point Solutions Stadium • Piscataway, NJ
October 22	2:30 PM	at Michigan		Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI
October 29	11:00 AM	Minnesota		Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL
November 5		Michigan State		Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL
November 12	2:30 PM	at Wisconsin		Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI
November 19		Iowa		Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL
November 26		at Northwestern		Ryan Field • Evanston, IL (Rivalry)
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time.

Schedule Source:

Game notes

Murray State

See also: 2016 Murray State Racers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Racers					0
Fighting Illini					0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First Meeting

North Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels					0
Fighting Illini					0

See also: 2016 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–3	2015	UNC, 48–14

Western Michigan

See also: 2016 Western Michigan Broncos football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos					0
Fighting Illini					0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–1	2012	ILL, 24–7

at Nebraska

See also: 2016 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini					0
Cornhuskers					0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–9–1	2015	ILL, 14–13

Purdue

See also: 2016 Purdue Boilermakers football team and Illinois–Purdue football rivalry

	1	2	3	4	Total
Boilermakers					0
Fighting Illini					0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
44–41–6	2015	ILL, 48–14

at Rutgers

See also: 2016 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini					0
Scarlet Knights					0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–1	2006	RUTG, 33–0

at Michigan

See also: 2016 Michigan Wolverines football team and Illinois–Michigan football series

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini					0
Wolverines					0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
23–69–2	2012	MICH, 45–0

Minnesota

See also: 2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers					0
Fighting Illini					0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
29–36–3	2015	MINN, 32–23

Michigan State

See also: 2016 Michigan State Spartans football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans					0
Fighting Illini					0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
17–26–2	2013	MSU, 42–3

at Wisconsin

See also: 2016 Wisconsin Badgers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini					0
Badgers					0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
37–39–7	2015	WISC, 24–13

Iowa

See also: 2016 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawkeyes					0
Fighting Illini					0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
38–31–2	2015	IOWA, 29–20

at Northwestern

See also: 2016 Northwestern Wildcats football team and Illinois–Northwestern football rivalry

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini					0
Wildcats					0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
55–49–5	2015	NW, 24–14

Rankings

Further information: 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP
Coaches'
CFP	Not released															Not released