damnyoutuesday wrote: ↑Sun Dec 28, 2025 10:52 am
grizzh8r wrote: ↑Sun Dec 28, 2025 10:35 am
tetoncat wrote: ↑Sat Dec 27, 2025 6:50 pm
nanacat wrote: ↑Sat Dec 27, 2025 5:15 pm
Saw this today on my drive home. Very interesting how these teams have built their rosters quite similarly.
(Psssst, don't tell Bobby that they both recruit many from high schools and develop them rather than living and dying in the portal)
https://www.si.com/college/fcs/big-sky/ ... GGo0JW3r4g
This was a good read. Had to laugh a little omparing 40 MT to 50 Illinois in state. Should be easy to do in that state.
While that may be true, they are competing against two P4 FBS programs, as well as Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Illinois, one of which (Northern) is FBS and will be joining the MWC for football next season. Not to mention that Illinois is much more visible and heavily recruited by dozens of D1 schools, far more so than Montana. When you look at it through that lense, succeeded with 50 in state kids really is a valid point.
There are 7 Division 1 football programs in Illinois. Illinois has a population of ~12.7M, which means there's 1 program for every 1.8M people
There are 2 Division 1 football programs in Montana. Montana has a population of ~1.1M, which means there's 1 program for every 550k people
No, it's not a valid point. It should still be incredibly easy for them to field a roster of Illinois kids compared to us fielding a roster of Montana kids
The state of Montana is lightly recruited by D1 programs. Only a handful of guys leave the state to play D1 ball, and most that do leave end up at P4/G5 programs. In the last few years, i can think of just a couple that went FCS - A guy from Butte that played for Idaho last year, and the OL that signed with the Bizen.
Not so for Illinois; here's what AI has to say:
It's virtually certain that nearly all 250+ NCAA Division I football programs (FBS & FCS) have at least one player from the state of Illinois on their roster, given Illinois's large talent pool, proximity to many D1 schools, and the sheer number of players needed across the hundreds of D1 teams, though finding a definitive exact count requires checking each individual roster, which constantly changes.
Why this is the case:
Large Talent Pool: Illinois produces a significant number of high-quality football players every year, making them attractive to recruiters nationwide.
Geographic Proximity: Schools in the Big Ten (like Northwestern, Illinois, Purdue, Wisconsin, Iowa) and other nearby conferences (Missouri Valley, MAC) heavily recruit Illinois.
Roster Size: D1 teams carry large rosters (up to 105 players or more), meaning they need players from all over, including Illinois.