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?
A teen is being held on charges after a 17-year-old was shot and killed after leaving school on January 8 in west suburban Cicero, Illinois.
A man was stabbed during an attempted robbery in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood early Friday morning.
A quick round of snow is expected Friday morning with most areas picking up less than an inch of accumulation.
More than a year after a woman was found dead at the bottom of a Chicago condo building stairwell, her ex-husband is expected in court on Friday.
Mikael Backlund and Yegor Sharangovich each had a goal and an assist as the Calgary Flames beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1.
The ICE agent involved in the fatal shooting could try to invoke immunity under the Constitution's Supremacy Clause to try to end state criminal prosecution.
President Trump threatened Thursday to invoke the Insurrection Act to quell anti-ICE protests in Minnesota. He previously threatened to do so in Chicago, but never followed through.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Machado previously said she wanted to "share" the prize for removing Nicolás Maduro from power.
The Trump administration reversed cuts to grants for mental health and addiction treatment programs that a CBS News source said were valued at around $1.9 billion.
In 2023, life expectancy in the Loop was 87.3 years, while in West Garfield Park, life expectancy was just 66.6 years, according to the city's Health Department.
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.
As this holiday season nears its end, Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias issued a warning Tuesday about text scams.
A new report shines a light on electricity shortages that Illinois could face in less than 10 years.
Roughly 1.4 million fewer Americans have signed up for an Affordable Care Act plan as expiring tax breaks drive up premiums.
January is Radon Action Month, and the Cook County Department of Public Health is urging residents to test their homes for radon.
Severe flu season is sending many people to hospital emergency rooms across the country, including in the Chicago area.
Unionized health care workers this week took aim at Northwestern Medicine, saying the health care system needs to hire more people before expanding the emergency room at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Tuesday that its recommendations for childhood vaccines will not be affected by a change in federal guidelines.
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.
Does the Chicago Bears' dramatic improvement this season, culminating in their first playoff run in five years, change the discussion about where they will build a new stadium?
The Piggery, a popular barbecue restaurant and bar in the northwest corner of Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood, announced Thursday that it is going out of business.
The Lincolnwood Town Center mall in the north Chicago suburb of Lincolnwood has been sold to a developer, the village announced Wednesday.
Scott Adams, the cartoonist who created the "Dilbert" comic strip, has died at the age of 68, his first ex-wife revealed on Tuesday.
Here is everything you need to know about how to watch and stream the 2026 Golden Globes.
Bob Weir wrote or co-wrote and sang lead vocals on Grateful Dead classics including "Sugar Magnolia," "One More Saturday Night" and "Mexicali Blues."
Chicago Theatre Week brings value-priced tickets for shows from Feb. 5 until Feb. 15 at Chicago's stage venues. Tickets can sell for $30, $15, or even less.
Isiah Whitlock Jr. is perhaps best known for his role as state Sen. R. Clayton "Clay" Davis on HBO's "The Wire."
The estranged husband of a woman found dead at the bottom of a Chicago condo building stairwell last year is expected in court on Friday.
A man is in critical condition after someone stabbed him during an attempted robbery in Englewood.
Meteorologist Laura Bannon has the extended forecast.
Chief meteorologist Albert Ramon has the latest First Alert Weather forecast.
For the second time in a week, a federal immigration officer has shot someone in Minneapolis. It has only intensified protests over the Trump administration’s ongoing deportation effort in Minnesota, and now president Trump Is threatening to send troops to the Twin Cities.
A teen is being held on charges after a 17-year-old was shot and killed after leaving school on January 8 in west suburban Cicero, Illinois.
A quick round of snow is expected Friday morning with most areas picking up less than an inch of accumulation.
More than a year after a woman was found dead at the bottom of a Chicago condo building stairwell, her ex-husband is expected in court on Friday.
The Bears will welcome the Rams to Soldier Field on Sunday with temperatures in the teens and wind chills in the single digits.
A man was stabbed during an attempted robbery in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood early Friday morning.
Lead-based paint was banned for serious health reasons in 1978, but most homes built before then remain covered in it.
Fire department officials in Chicago's western suburbs said drone technology has been helping keep firefighters safe and make a major impact on public safety.
With the stores becoming a common target for thieves, some of the stores in the Chicago area are taking new steps to fight back.
As thousands of people are expected downtown for New Year's Eve celebrations, Mayor Johnson, the Chicago police, and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications are trying to get out ahead of any safety concerns.
Cameras not working, video evidence missed by police and a psychic that leads a hit and run victim's son to a clue that changes the case
Mikael Backlund and Yegor Sharangovich each had a goal and an assist as the Calgary Flames beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1.
The Bears will welcome the Rams to Soldier Field on Sunday with temperatures in the teens and wind chills in the single digits.
After signing the third-richest contract in Chicago Cubs history and changing his jersey number to No. 3, third baseman Alex Bregman said his biggest priorities are his family and winning a third World Series championship.
The Bears will have backups in a couple of key spots on both sides of the ball on Sunday when they take on the Rams on Sunday, but other than that, it's a relatively clean playoff injury report.
The Chicago Cubs introduced third baseman Alex Bregman at Wrigley Field on Thursday, after signing him to a $175 million, five-year contract.
Chicago police have issued a community alert on a string of burglaries this week targeting businesses from the north lakefront to the Southwest Side.
Burglars broke into a bar in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood early Thursday morning.
A teen stood charged Thursday with shooting a young woman in the mouth in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood earlier this week.
A man is dead, and two others were injured after a shooting in Chicago's Morgan Park neighborhood.
Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that they have charged a registered nurse to giving counterfeit Ozempic to patients in Chicago.
