The 1986 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their seventh year under head coach Mike White, the Fighting Illini compiled a 4–7 record, tied for sixth place in the Big Ten, and were outscored by a total of 299 to 189.