Illinois State and Western Illinois have met 106 times. Both schools announced Saturday that the rivalry will continue thanks to an agreement. (Photo by Barry Bottino, PrairieStatePigskin.com).
By Dan Verdun
Saturday’s announcement that Illinois State and Western Illinois will continue their longstanding football series was met with delight on both sides.
“I’m all for that,” ISU head coach Brock Spack told Prairie State Pigskin. “I’m very happy. This will be like Eastern Illinois, where it’s a built-in rivalry. We should always play each other.”
The series, which has been played 106 times since the first meeting in 1904, was in jeopardy after WIU announced it was leaving the Missouri Valley Football Conference for the Ohio Valley Conference next season.
Both athletic administrations, however, began working on a continuation of the series as non-conference games at the time of WIU’s announcement this past spring.
Though an exact date has not been announced, ISU and WIU will play in Sept. 2024.
“The continuation of this series as part of our on-going non-conference scheduling makes a lot of sense for everyone involved,” ISU interim director of athletics Dr. Jeri Beggs said in a released statement. “I know our coaches and student-athletes will enjoy the rivalry continuing, as I’m sure our fans and alumni will as well. These two football programs have storied traditions, and I know we are all glad this piece of those legacies will continue next year and into the future.”
Western Illinois director of athletics Paul Bubb said, “This is a great in-state rivalry which we want to continue, as both our schedules would allow. While our schedules do not allow us to play every year, over the next 12 years we will face each other six times.”
Dr. Tom Cody, who recently retired from WIU as both a professor and faculty athletic representative, continues to provide color commentary on Leatherneck football radio broadcasts.
“That’s the one game Western always looks forward to because it’s such a short trip to Bloomington-Normal. It’s a short trip to Northern Iowa as well, but when you have an in-state rival that’s the part of what everybody is thinking about,” Cody told Prairie State Pigskin in May.
ISU sophomore wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz said he was happy to hear the series will continue.
“They’re always a great opponent to play,” Sobkowicz said of WIU. “They always play really hard. Their coaches do a good job. I’m excited we’ll be playing again.”
‘Why wouldn’t you do this?’
Both sides acknowledge that the series makes future scheduling less taxing.
“It’s hard for us to find non-conference games, so this makes it easy,” Spack said. “It’s a nice, easy bus trip for each school with a built-in rivalry, so why wouldn’t you do this?”
Cody joined the WIU faculty in 1985, the same year that both schools became charter members of the Gateway Conference, which was the moniker the league went by prior to changing its name to the MVFC.
“As other conferences tumble and change, the opportunity to get a good FCS non-conference game is getting harder and harder. It just makes that game easier to schedule,” he said.
Cody, who spent 25 years as faculty athletic representative, saw another positive.
“It also helps in the playoff picture. There are a number of positive reasons to schedule Illinois State,” Cody said. “You may have to schedule a Pioneer League school or pick up a D2 game (if you can’t find an FCS opponent), and those games don’t help you as much in the playoff picture. Having that good non-conference FCS schedule benefits both teams.”
Dan Verdun is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin. He has written four books: NIU Huskies Football, EIU Panthers Football, ISU Redbirds Football and SIU Salukis Football.
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