From their alphabetical positioning and Midwestern roots to a 300-mile border that mostly separates the Eastern and Central time zones, the states of Indiana and Illinois share numerous commonalities.

Their flagship university athletic teams also share more than a block 'I' in their logo. Each football squad plays in Memorial Stadium. Their iconic basketball programs call Assembly Hall their home -- well, at least until Illinois changed its arena name.

In football, these longtime Big Ten foes share something more dubious: losing. Lots and lots of losing. To look up important past football matchups between No. 9 Illinois and No. 19 Indiana, one might need a magnifying glass and plenty of patience. That's why their ranked Big Ten opener Saturday night adds bewilderment as much as intrigue to this super-sized clash between perennial conference cellar dwellers.

"This is the first time that two ranked Illinois and Indiana teams have gone against each other since 1950," Illinois coach Bret Bielema said. "I was shocked at that."

The programs' combined football misery makes this explosive matchup a historical outlier, with the past providing the context to the present. In the series' 75th meeting, it seems appropriate that it's the 75th anniversary of their lone ranked battle. In 1950, No. 12 Illinois shut out No. 19 Indiana 20-0 in Champaign. The series then became a scorched field of mediocrity. The Illini were ranked in just seven other meetings against the Hoosiers. For Indiana, just twice against Illinois.

Including 2024, the programs finished with a winning Big Ten record in the same season only seven times. Over the last 30 years, one of the teams finished in the Big Ten basement 20 times, and they shared last place twice. Indiana has lost more games than any other Division I football program. Illinois has enjoyed back-to-back winning seasons just once (2010-11), since the 1989-90 season, and in both years, the Illini were 7-6 with bowl victories.

The two border foes have engaged in scores of nationally relevant men's basketball games. But in football? The only contest to impact the Big Ten title race occurred in 1910. On that mid-November afternoon, Illinois quarterback Otto Seiler drop-kicked a 45-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter in a 3-0 win. Illinois finished 7-0 overall and 4-0 in Big Ten. Indiana was 5-1-1 and 3-1 in the Big Ten.

"The Illini cohorts, 1,500 strong, rent the air with shouts of delirious joy when the little quarterback wrought dismay to the thousands of Indiana students and alumni by shooting the ball over the goal from the 45-yard line," wrote the Indianapolis Star. "When the game ended, he was carried off the field, while the orange and blue band boomed with all its might. If the students had their way, Seiler would be elected president of Illinois University tonight or elevated to some other position just as dignified. He is the greatest hero of his time -- to the Illini."

With apologies to Seiler's dropkick before "the greatest crowd ever assembled in Bloomington" 115 years ago, Saturday's meeting ranks the series' most important. The game was sold out in May and both coaches displayed nervous tension publicly following their final tune-ups last weekend. Both Bielema and Indiana's Curt Cignetti signaled a mood change. Following a 38-0 win against Western Michigan, Bielema's hand was still throbbing from a halftime blowup. Cignetti gave his coaches a day to exhale before ramping up preparation for the Illini.

Cignetti and Bielema are perhaps the Big Ten's brashest coaches. Bielema has no qualms about calling out other coaches and leagues. During an injury timeout in last season's Citrus Bowl, Bielema flashed a "T-bar" signal toward South Carolina coach Shane Beamer in mocking fashion. During the summer, Bielema sparred publicly on social media over unbalanced scheduling among the power conferences.

Bielema's willingness to extend himself publicly might make some athletic directors uneasy. Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman feels different. Bielema's 31-22 start over 53 games is the second-best for an Illinois coach over the last 110 years, only a fraction behind Mike White (31-21-1) from 1980-1984. The last time the Illini were a top-10 team in September, Dick Butkus was a senior in 1964.

"We're at a moment now where we welcome some of that attention," Whitman said. "We want people to pay attention to what Illinois football is and has become. And he's obviously a very recognizable figure in college athletics and college football. Specifically, he generates a lot of interest in ways that perhaps coaches with a lower profile wouldn't.

"Maybe at different moments, that's not a spotlight that we would welcome, but at this point and with where we are and where we'd like to go, I think that's a needed next step for Illinois football."

With the Citrus Bowl victory, Illinois tied the school record with 10 wins last year. The Illini have won seven straight games, which is tied for the nation's longest winning streak. With a Big Ten-high 16 starters returning, Illinois not only is in the conversation for a College Football Playoff appearance, but it is a contender for its first Big Ten championship since 2001.

Whitman, who calls Bielema "an exceptional leader," played tight end at Illinois through 2000 and saw the program plummet to 5-7 in 2002. When the Illini reached the Rose Bowl in 2007, they fell to 5-7 in 2008. Even under Bielema, Illinois had the nation's top-ranked defense and was one win shy of the 2022 Big Ten West title. The next year, the Illini were 5-7.

With those drop-offs providing the backdrop, the focus for Whitman and Bielema is not to just win big games, but to build off success and sustain a program.

"We've had moments when we've been to the top of the mountain," Whitman said. "What's made us a little bit different is we haven't always capitalized on those moments of success and made them springboards to even greater success. We've done a lot of due diligence and thought about why those moments have happened where we've had these fairly precipitous drops following moments of success."

Indiana's rise under Cignetti is altogether different. No program in college football history has lost more games than the Hoosiers. They have two Big Ten titles -- 1945 and a three-way tie in 1967 -- and haven't played a double-ranked home game since 1987.

In 2020, Indiana flirted with a Big Ten title, which spurred an extension for then-coach Tom Allen and a preseason top-20 ranking in 2021. The Hoosiers then finished 0-9 in the Big Ten that year and 3-24 in conference action from 2021-23. Indiana hired Cignetti from James Madison, and he ushered in a new era in his inaugural news conference.

With reporting probing for answers on how he could elevate the Hoosiers from a perennial loser, an exasperated Cignetti scoffed, "I win, Google me." In bringing a core of players from James Madison and sprinkling in unheralded -- but impactful -- transfers, Cignetti has detonated IU's losing culture. Last year, the Hoosiers started 10-0 and won a school-record 11 games. Not only has Indiana remained perfect at home in Cignetti's two seasons, but the Hoosiers have won those 11 contests by an average of 37.9 points per game.

Cignetti's bravado comes out frequently in news conferences, but it doesn't come from conceit; it's an organic belief in himself and his team.

"He instills confidence in his players and his coaches and certainly our fan base and everyone who's around him," Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson said. "He's very authentic. He is not what I would call a cocky person at all. I think he just believes in his plan and believes he knows how to win and believes how to develop young men on and off the field. When you really get to know him, you see just how authentic he is and how he really is doing these things for the right reasons. It's just not fake."

Bielema and Cignetti have invigorated their fan bases and donors. By mid-May, Illinois had sold every season ticket for the first time in at least 20 years. Indiana broke 45-year-old attendance records with multiple sellouts in 2024. This year, season ticket sales grew by 50 percent. In addition, both schools landed naming rights agreements for their version of Memorial Stadium. Illinois received a $100 million donation to name its football home Gies Memorial Stadium. Indiana picked a $50 million pledge to attach Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium. Both programs have stepped up their NIL efforts to keep their most valuable contributors and pry away players from Big Ten rivals.

"It certainly is opening more doors, there's no doubt about it," Cignetti said. "But look, we got to keep progressing, getting better."

With only 150 miles separating the campuses, they have always recruited against one another. In the past, it was for leftovers. Now it's for front-line talent. In 2024, Illinois sat 49th and Indiana 65th nationally in the 247Sports' composite recruiting rankings. For their 2026 classes, Illinois is 25th and Indiana is 28th.

With their losing pasts now a footnote, Illinois and Indiana are coming to grips with their success. Few people could have envisioned their meeting garnering a primetime audience on NBC, let alone headlining the weekend college football slate. But with these two coaches, Saturday's game bears no resemblance to their past tussles. And for Indiana and Illinois, that's a good thing.

Illinois and Indiana share a history of losing. That's why their matchup is so intriguing