Prairie State Wire

Robert Morris University Illinois ranked No. 1 for student football participation in the state, according to a Prairie State Wire analysis of college sports participation.

Chicago-based Robert Morris’ football team consisted of 190 members in 2016, the highest student popularity number in Illinois, according to federal athletics data.

The Illinois university with the second-highest football popularity number was McKendree University in Lebanon (148), followed by North Central College in Naperville (132).

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education collects athletics data annually from all institutions with intercollegiate athletics programs that receive funding through federal financial aid programs. Data for 2016 – the latest year available – includes more than 2,000 schools nationwide.

In all, there are 3,544 students playing on 34 college and university football teams in the state.

College football participation rankings

	School	Division	Football Team Members
1	Robert Morris University Illinois	NAIA Division II	190
2	McKendree University	NCAA Division II with football	148
3	North Central College	NCAA Division III with football	132
4	Augustana College	NCAA Division III with football	127
5	Elmhurst College	NCAA Division III with football	124
6	Olivet Nazarene University	NAIA Division II	117
7	Quincy University	NCAA Division II with football	115
8	Illinois State University	NCAA Division I-FCS	114
9	Illinois Wesleyan University	NCAA Division III with football	113
10	Northern Illinois University	NCAA Division I-FBS	113
11	Wheaton College	NCAA Division III with football	112
12	Aurora University	NCAA Division III with football	111
13	North Park University	NCAA Division III with football	107
14	Benedictine University	NCAA Division III with football	105
15	Illinois College	NCAA Division III with football	105
16	Western Illinois University	NCAA Division I-FCS	105
17	Northwestern University	NCAA Division I-FBS	103
18	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale	NCAA Division I-FCS	103
19	Millikin University	NCAA Division III with football	102
20	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	NCAA Division I-FBS	102
21	Eastern Illinois University	NCAA Division I-FCS	100
22	University of Chicago	NCAA Division III with football	99
23	University of St Francis	NAIA Division II	99
24	College of DuPage	NJCAA Division III	97
25	Monmouth College	NCAA Division III with football	97
26	Greenville College	NCAA Division III with football	87
27	Trinity International University-Illinois	NAIA Division I	84
28	Lake Forest College	NCAA Division III with football	83
29	Concordia University-Chicago	NCAA Division III with football	82
30	MacMurray College	NCAA Division III with football	82
31	Saint Xavier University	NAIA Division II	80
32	Rockford University	NCAA Division III with football	79
33	Eureka College	NCAA Division III with football	72
34	Knox College	NCAA Division III with football	55

Source: U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education