A college football team this devoid of hope is an awkward thing to have.

Here on campus you have this giant edifice intended to hold more than 50,000 patrons during a given Saturday, though it often sits half full with many people leaving before the entertainment is finished. You have dozens of highly paid professionals (including the highest paid state employee in Illinois) training and orchestrating a group of the University’s most athletic individuals with the sole goal of outmatching their opponent.

There are many people employed to operate the various facilities at these events, many people whose job it is to generate publicity and inspire people to come. Some whose job it is to report on what takes place in this curiously large arena.

In short, it takes a lot of resources to run a Big Ten football program.

When the combined forces of all those resources muster two victories in a 12-game season, well, it’s awkward.

Say what you want about entering difficult situations, or works in progress, or investing in the future of the program, there is little doubt among popular opinion that this year will be a down year for the Illinois football team. Next year may be better. Five years down the line we may look back at this season and laugh at how it was thought that the football team was ill-equipped for success.

But now, for the next four months, things are bleak for the Orange and Blue.

Last year was a bad year, too. The team had the wind taken out of its sails quite early. Suffering from vamped up expectations and The Dawn of a New Era, the steady plummet to a 2-10 record was made even worse because Illini nation’s collective morale had much further to fall.

So this season will be different, even if the Illini churn out a 2-10 record once more, simply because of the context. And that’s a good thing.

Regardless of the general feeling of hopelessness surrounding the upcoming season, the Illini are still going to trot out 12 times — seven times at Memorial Stadium — and play as hard as they can to try and win.

They will still sweat during their games, especially the hot ones at the beginning of the season, and freeze while on the bench in the later games. Their opponents will still hit them really hard, and they will still try and reciprocate the gestures when appropriate. They will still need ice baths after games, risk injury during them and spend time practicing that could be spent studying.

They will still play football in the Big Ten, and experience everything that comes with that, whether glory is attainable or not.

It will still be Nathan Scheelhaase’s senior season, his last chance to shine on the Big Ten stage. It will still be perhaps Reilly O’Toole’s last chance to prove himself as a viable option to play quarterback anywhere should he decide to transfer, let alone at Illinois. Many players will be looking to establish themselves on the team — at running back and in the secondary especially.

There’s still much to prove, much to gain and much to lose — even more than games.

Whether you find Illinois football to be worth your while, it will forge on. The University will continue to compile its resources into creating the best experience possible. The players will continue to fight, and find joy in success and agony in failure.

They will not have time to waste feeling awkward about the program they represent, because the season will still be there, even if the wins are not.

The old saying goes: “That’s why they play the games.”

This year, even should winning not be the reason why, there will be something. There will be meaning to be taken from this year’s Illinois football campaign.

The fantastically interesting task will be for those involved — the players, the coaches, the stadium security workers, the reporters, the fans — to find it.

Eliot is a senior in Media. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @EliotTweet.