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Greetings from “Can’t Wait For Saturday,” your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He’ll give you his views each day on the game he loves.
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The good news for Illinois football fans: your coach is considered one of the best leaders in the country going into the 2025 season. Bret Bielema was named to the watch list for the Bobby Dodd award, which goes to the nation’s top football boss.
The better news for Illinois fans: If Bielema wins the award, it means your favorite team either won the College Football Playoff or got very close.
Often, coach of the year honors go to those who overachieve. Like Indiana’s Curt Cignetti in 2024. He inherited a mess and led the Hoosiers to the CFP. The Miracle in Bloomington.
But unlike Cignetti, who opened the season with very low outside expectations, Bielema’s team is supposed to be good. Or even great.
Illinois won 10 games in 2024 and played well in a bowl victory against South Carolina.
Almost as important for Illinois as what happened last year is the reality that so many of the key players from what team are back. None more important than quarterback Luke Altmyer, who has a chance to finish as one of the school’s all-time best.
If Bielema leads his team to a 10-win regular season, there is a great chance it will be in the CFP. Stick with me here for a bit of best-case scenario: if Illinois runs the table in the regular season, then leaves Indianapolis with the Big Ten title to move to 13-0, Belema will have a strong case for the Dodd.
Bielema is first on the Dodd watch list alphabetically and one of five…
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Publish date : 2025-07-08 14:47:00
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