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The Ball State athletic department announced today that the Cardinals have added the Illinois Fighting Illini to their 2017 non-conference football schedule. The game is scheduled to be played Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017 in Champaign, Ill., and is the first official game on Ball State's 2017 schedule.
The two teams have faced off one-time prior, in 2007, with 'Juice' Williams and Illinois beating BSU 28-17 in Champaign, Ill..
A lot of things can change by 2017, and at BSU things certainly will, as head coach Pete Lembo seems destined to leave for greener ($ dolla, dolla bill ya'll) pastures at the end of the season. The Illini appear to be on the up-swing after years of misery under Ron Zook.
But in the wake of B1G commissioner Jim Delany pushing his schools to play tougher non-conference games it's nice to see that MAC teams continue to get a shot to beat up on their B1G brothers.