My first simulation of the 2010 college football season is complete. A lot of us are still up in the air about this Illini team. The season could be good depending on how much players improve as the year goes along, or it could be terrible, especially with the way Illinois opens up the Big Ten season (vs. OSU, @ PSU, @ MSU).

The first simulation on NCAA Football 2011 leaned more towards the terrible side of things. It was pretty painful writing down the statistics racked up by the Illini. Let's look at how the season turned out.

CONFERENCE STANDINGS

                                    Conference         Overall

Team                         W            L            W            L

#7 Wisconsin              7             1            10           2

#2 Ohio State              7             1            12           1

#16 Penn State           6              2           10           3

Michigan State            5              3             8            5

#25 Iowa                     5              3           10            3

Michigan                     4               4           7             6

Purdue                        3               5           7             6

Northwestern               2               6           7             6

Illinois                        2               6           3              9

Minnesota                   2               6           5              7

Indiana                        1               7           5              7

ILLINOIS MAIN STATISTICS

QB Eddie McGee (Sr.) – 145/322 passing, 1762 yards, 14 TD, 12 INT

RB Mikel Leshour (Jr.) - 231 rushes, 644 yards, 2.7 ypc, 4 TD, 5 fumbles

TE London Davis – 47 rec, 585 yards, 5 TD

LB Ian Thomas - 98 tackles, 22 FL, 8 PD, 2 FF, 1 INT

K Derek Dimke – 16-25 FG

BIG TEN STATISTICS

Top 5 QBs

Terrelle Pryor OSU (Jr.) - 238/378 passing, 3350 yards, 29 TD, 10 INT

Scott Tolzien WIS (Sr.) - 233/367 passing, 2982 yards, 25 TD, 4 INT

Ricki Stanzi IOW (Sr.) - 249/457 passing, 3155 yards, 25 TD, 13 INT

Kirk Cousins MSU (Jr.) - 219/429 passing 2820 yards, 23 TD, 11 INT

Kevin Newsome PSU (So.) - 195/393 passing, 2412 yards, 21 TD, 14 INT

Top 5 RBs

Evan Royster PSU (Sr.) - 289 rushes, 1263 yards, 4.3 ypc. 7 TD, Long of 50

Michael Shaw MICH (Sr.) - 311 rushes, 1190 yards, 3.8 yrc, 13 TD, Long of 63

Adam Robinson IOW (So.) - 275 rushes, 1124 yards, 4.0 ypc, 6 TD, Long of 47

Dan Herron OSU (Jr.) - 234 rushes, 998 yards, 4.2 ypc, 9 TD, Long of 13

Larry Caper MSU (So.) - 268 rushes, 887 yards, 3.3 ypc, 9 TD, Long of 24

Top 5 WRs

Nick Toon WIS (Jr.) - 74 rec, 845 yards, 11.4 ypr, 4 TD, Long of 45

Devier Posey OSU (Jr.) - 72 rec, 1053 yards, 14.6 ypr, 13 TD, Long of 81

Allen Reisner IOW (Sr.) - 72 rec, 940 yards, 13.0 ypr, 8 TD, Long of 80

Keith Smith PUR (Sr.) - 68 rec, 945 yards, 13.8 ypr, 5 TD, Long of 64

Sidney Stewert NW (Sr.) - 63 Rec, 760 yards, 12.0 ypr, 7 TD, Long of 54

Top 5 Defenders

LB Nate Williams NW (Sr.) - 102 tackles, 17 FL, 4 INT, 2.5 sacks

LB Chad Sherer IND (So.) - 108 tackles, 8 FL, 1 INT, .5 sacks

LB Joe Holland PUR (Jr.) - 95 tackles, 24 FL, 2 INT, 2.5 sacks

LB Tyler Replogle IND (Sr.) - 100 tackles, 22 FL, 1 INT, 8.5 sacks

LB Jeremiha Hunter IOW (Sr.) - 88 tackles, 19 FL, 0 INT, 4.5 sacks

BIG TEN IN BOWL GAMES

Big Ten record in Bowl Games - (5-2) 

Little Caesar's Bowl – Northwestern 19 Ohio 17

Insight Bowl – Missouri 45 Michigan 15 (OUCH!!)

Outback Bowl – Ole Miss 14 Michigan State 11

Gator Bowl – Iowa 41 Georgia 17

Capital One Bowl – Penn State 28 Arkansas 27

Rose Bowl – Stanford 31 Wisconsin 14

Surgar Bowl – Ohio State 48 Virginia Tech 10

Your National Champion...Boise State!!

While it was a terrible season for Illinois, the Big Ten overall had a great year. Outside of Illinois and their pathetic 3-9 record, every Big Ten team had at least 5 wins, and the conference had a great showing in bowl games.

For our sake as fans, let's hope the Illini have a better season than the one shown above. I will be doing another simulation for next Monday. What do you guys think will happen with Illinois this season? What will their record be? Do you see this as a bowl team, or still a team that needs to figure a lot of things out before getting back .500? The purpose of my blog is to get you, the fan, involved with the discussion. Speak up Illini Nation, I want to hear you!

I-L-L...