Muller: Illini Could Be In For Special Season In 2011
Winning a bowl game like the Texas Bowl may not be that big of a deal to many who follow college football, but for the University of Illinois fans and Ron Zook, they will gladly take it.
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Winning a bowl game like the Texas Bowl may not be that big of a deal to many who follow college football, but for the University of Illinois fans and Ron Zook, they will gladly take it.
Christmas is over. New Year's is looming. And in between this week the Big Ten gets its bowl season rolling.
The NCAA is the biggest joke in all of sports. A couple of week ago, Auburn quarterback Cam Newton was deemed eligible to play in the SEC Championship game against South Carolina.
On Feb. 8, 1896 – one month after X-Rays were discovered and nine months before William McKinley was elected as the United States' 25th president – a the Midwest's premier universities held a powwow in Chicago and established the Big Ten.
The last time I checked, the Chicago Bears play their home games outdoors in Soldier Field. The home of the Bears has long been known to be one of the most unforgiving stadiums in the National Football League in terms of inclement weather.
OK, it's taken a couple of days, but I'm finally on board with this whole new Big Ten thing. The conference is bigger, it's badder (and that's just what they're saying about our divisions!) and, thanks to all those new multi-name football awards, it's also more hyphenated than ever before.
When the Big Ten announced they were adding Nebraska, the response was almost all positive. And when the Big Ten announced the names for the new divisions, the response was almost all negative.
OK. Now it's my turn! There sure has been a lot of talk around Big Ten country in the past 24 hours about the new conference logo and football divisional names.
This past summer, when the Big Ten announced that the University of Nebraska was signing on as the league's 12th team, the Conference That Can't Count hit a stand-up triple.
Of course the names "Legends" and "Leaders" have been poorly received by fans and critics. The two new Big Ten division names are uninspiring and uncreative, at best.
You know how offensive coordinators can get too "cute" with their play calling when they are already having success? That's basically what Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany has done since announcing Nebraska would join the conference, allowing for a Big Ten Championship Game to be born.
The Big Ten released it's new logo and the names for it's two divisions, today. The addition of Nebraska, next year, will allow for the conference to have two divisions and a championship game.
Adam Hoge breaks down the eight bowl games involving Big Ten teams this season.
With the Big Ten Conference winning the Big Ten/ACC Challenge for the first time in eleven tries last season, both Illinois and Northwestern looked to do their part this year in ensuring that conference bragging rights would stay in the Midwest for at least one more year.
Technically nothing is official until the final BCS standings come out Dec. 5, but if it's up to the Rose Bowl representatives, the Wisconsin Badgers will be playing in Pasadena on New Year's Day.
Illinois coach Bruce Weber said his Fighting Illini played their best first half of the season on Saturday, when they took a 25-point lead into halftime.
Adam Hoge takes a look ahead at this week's Big Ten football action.
The team is mediocre, the coach is already under fire just 11 games into his tenure, and the school's administration is taking more hits than its quarterback these days.
The happiest man in Chicago this past Saturday had to be The University of Illinois Head Football Coach Ron Zook. Could you blame him?
Saturday's Illinois-Northwestern football game at Wrigley Field was a historic experience for fans of both teams, in more ways than one.
It sounds like the "losers walk" rules that kids use when playing football in their back yards. Whenever Illinois or Northwestern score on offense Saturday, everyone has to switch around and face the other way for the next drive.
There has been plenty of talk about Saturday's Northwestern and Illinois football game at Wrigley Field. Most of the talk has surrounded the safety of the players. Today an announcement was made to help protect them.
Did the Wisconsin Badgers run the score up against Indiana or are the Hoosiers just that bad?
Chicago helped shape the nation in so many ways, including the pioneering of skyscrapers – the big, beautiful buildings the city of big shoulders introduced to the world.
A Chicago bus driver is out of a job after he was caught on camera with his hands off the wheel and his eyes glued to his cell phone.
Police in Chicago's south and southwest suburbs are teaming up to target thieves targeting video gambling machines, which have become an increasingly popular target for burglary crews.
An eagle-eyed drone pilot helped spot a missing foster puppy who had been out in the cold for more than two weeks in Chicago's northwest suburbs.
The city of Aurora is kicking off Black History Month by honoring a living legend, one of the last remaining Negro Leagues baseball players.
The footage is included in a video that promotes false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against Mr. Trump.
The FBI has arrested "one of the key participants" behind the attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 that killed four Americans.
A new push to pass a GOP elections bill known as the SAVE America Act is underway in Congress, but Democrats warn the proposal could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.
As immigration sweeps expand nationwide, the work of justifying detentions is overwhelming federal prosecutors, who are being forced to sideline a range of other cases in order to keep pace.
Marimar Martinez, the Chicago woman shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in October, plans to attend President Trump's State of the Union address to Congress later this month, according to her attorney.
This week marks Identity Theft Awareness Week, and Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza emphasized some safety tips Monday for avoiding and dealing with identity theft.
A controversial data center in Naperville, Illinois, could be the cause to pack a city council meeting there on Tuesday night.
Police in the west Chicago suburb of Geneva are warning of a scam involving spoofed phone numbers.
Protesters on Tuesday were cranking up the heat on Peoples Gas over a recently proposed rate hike that would add an additional $10 to $11 a month to utility bills.
A lawsuit filed late last month took Chicago-based McDonald's to task over the McRib sandwich, calling its name a form of false advertising.
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital announced this week that it is planning to open a new pediatric hospital in the west Chicago suburb of Downers Grove.
It has been nearly six years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and one of the many questions doctors are still working to answer concerns the long-term effects.
Leaders from Cook County, the Illinois Department of Human Services, and the Greater Chicago Food Depository denounced changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on Wednesday.
The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center has received a grant from The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation for a new cancer center.
Chicago's Lurie Children's Hospital said Tuesday that it is no longer initiating gender-affirming medical treatment for minors.
A Near West Side diner known for drawing in Blackhawks fans and players is up for sale.
January may be the coldest time of the year, but Chicago is already looking forward to summer farmers' markets.
A development proposal issued this month calls for the replacement of a building housing a Giordiano's pizzeria in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood with a new mixed-use building with 28 residential units.
United Airlines flight attendants picketed outside Chicago's Willis Tower Thursday morning as they fought for a new contract.
WSCR-AM, 670 The Score, will begin a simulcast on 104.3 FM next month.
Gamers across the world can now recreate drone strikes in Ukraine from the comfort of their own home, with this newly released game.
The members of Ratboys were teenagers when they met by chance, and now in their 30s, the Chicago band formed by two college friends almost two decades ago appears to be on the brink of something big.
Chuck Negron, a founding member of Three Dog Night whose lead vocals powered a string of hits for one of the top rock acts of the late 1960s and early '70s has died. He was 83.
Bad Bunny used his Grammy acceptance speech on Sunday to denounce U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and call for the end of the ongoing immigration crackdown.
The 2026 Grammy Awards recognized the best of the best in music from last year, with big wins for Kendrick Lamar and Bad Bunny. Here's the full list of winners and nominees.
A Chicago bus driver is out of a job after he was caught on camera with his hands off the wheel and his eyes glued to his cell phone.
Police in Chicago's south and southwest suburbs are teaming up to target thieves targeting video gambling machines, which have become an increasingly popular target for burglary crews.
An eagle-eyed drone pilot helped spot a missing foster puppy who had been out in the cold for more than two weeks in Chicago's northwest suburbs.
Two west suburban high schools have something extra to celebrate Sunday, when alumni from their schools make their Super Bowl debuts.
The city of Aurora is kicking off Black History Month by honoring a living legend, one of the last remaining Negro Leagues baseball players. Dennis Biddle, 92, is sharing a narrative that was never shared in textbooks, a history he said has been largely covered up.
Police in Chicago's south and southwest suburbs are teaming up to target thieves targeting video gambling machines, which have become an increasingly popular target for burglary crews.
An eagle-eyed drone pilot helped spot a missing foster puppy who had been out in the cold for more than two weeks in Chicago's northwest suburbs.
A source close to the investigation said the woman worked for the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
A federal judge in Chicago has ruled key evidence in the Marimar Martinez shooting, including bodycam video and text messages, can be released.
Chicago helped shape the nation in so many ways, including the pioneering of skyscrapers – the big, beautiful buildings the city of big shoulders introduced to the world.
Fewer Chicago kids are getting the dental care they need, and some dentists are blaming Chicago Public Schools.
Cynthia Eason recounted the moment Chicago police officers raided her family's home in 2018.
Water bills could be going up in several Chicago suburbs and other parts of Illinois, as Illinois American Water seeks a rate increase to fund infrastructure improvements.
The case involves a Chicago grandmother, her daughter, and her four grandchildren, who all said that Chicago police officers pointed guns at them during the botched raid.
Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel no longer will have to testify about an alleged "code of silence" at the Chicago Police Department, after a federal judge reversed an earlier ruling that would have allowed him to take the stand in a lawsuit over a botched police raid.
Two west suburban high schools have something extra to celebrate Sunday, when alumni from their schools make their Super Bowl debuts.
The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics are underway after the lighting of the Olympic cauldrons and the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremony.
Caleb Williams certainly had plenty of big throws to celebrate in 2025, but it wasn't hard to pick his most memorable one after he launched a 46-yard touchdown pass to DJ Moore to beat the Packers in overtime in Week 16.
Brandon Ingram scored 33 points, Immanuel Quickley had 24 and the Toronto Raptors beat the new-look Chicago Bulls 123-107.
Chicago Bears guard Joe Thuney was named the NFL's top offensive lineman of 2025 on Thursday, winning the inaugural Protector of the Year Award.
A South Side community came together on Friday, hoping for justice after a woman was shot and killed while her baby was in the back seat of their car earlier this week.
A Chicago city employee was found shot to death Friday morning inside an apartment in the West Ridge neighborhood.
Actor Timothy Busfield has been indicted on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child, officials said Friday.
A burglary crew smashed into a restaurant in Chicago's southwest suburbs, leaving the owner cleaning up a big and frustrating mess.
Six months after a well-known charter boat captain was found dead at DuSable Harbor in downtown Chicago, a man has been charged with his murder.
