Our side
MoneylineILL to win
ours 93%
Projected score
16–43
SIU – ILL
2026-09-19 · 2:00 PM
Gies Memorial Stadium · Champaign, IL
Early season
The books
No book has priced this game. Nothing to compare, and no ticket to build.
Series
Illinois lead
4–0
· 4 meetings since 1985
2025 unit ranks —
last completed season, from games actually played
Run game
edge Southern Illinois Salukis
58 ranks
Southern Illinois Salukis #2 rush offense
Illinois Fighting Illini #60 run defense
Pass game
edge Southern Illinois Salukis
134 ranks
Southern Illinois Salukis #45 pass offense
Illinois Fighting Illini #179 pass defense
Run game
even
38 ranks apart
Illinois Fighting Illini #124 rush offense
Southern Illinois Salukis #162 run defense
Pass game
edge Illinois Fighting Illini
169 ranks
Illinois Fighting Illini #38 pass offense
Southern Illinois Salukis #207 pass defense
Southern Illinois Salukis
Balanced · 55% run
Ball-control
Dual-threat QB · 71 rush ypg
Illinois Fighting Illini
Balanced · 54% run
Ball-control
Bret Bielema · 56-45 · offense-minded
Ranked by team-unit strength
(rush & pass offense vs. run & pass defense) across all 265
D1 teams, not by individual players. Identity, tempo and unit strength are measured from the
2025 season.
The evidence 2025 production and power ratings · supporting the number above
Who carried each team in 2025
Southern Illinois Salukis
DL
Ibrahim Sanogo
11 tkl · 3.5 sacks · 5.5 TFL
#15 DL
LB
Ben Fiegel
22 tkl · 4.5 TFL
#28 LB
LB
Andrew Behm
18 tkl · 1.5 TFL
#122 LB
WR
Kyle Thomas
6 rec · 150 yds · 1 TD
#218 WR
Illinois Fighting Illini
WR
Collin Dixon
17 rec · 236 yds · 5 TD
#5 WR
QB
Katin Houser
453 pass yds · 6 TD · 1 INT
#8 QB
LB
Ismael Kante
10 tkl · 0.5 TFL
#45 LB
LB
Will Holmes
10 tkl · 1.0 sacks · 2.0 TFL
#102 LB
Top-rated players from last season, ranked within their
position across D1. A grade measures what a player produced, and no
2026 game has been played yet — so this is who produced for
these programs in 2025, not a claim about who is on the field this year.
Power breakdown
Def is higher = better. The projection assumes a 2.4-pt home edge (0 at neutral sites).
Where the number comes from
Southern Illinois offense vs Illinois defense-5.2 pts
Illinois offense vs Southern Illinois defense+10.5 pts
An efficiency adjustment from season-to-date EPA and success rate applies once teams have
played enough games; before then it is 0 and the number is the power rating alone.