Kittner: Illinois Should Play In Bowl Game
In the wake of the firing of head football coach Ron Zook, the team is meeting Tuesday to decide whether or not it will accept a bowl invitation.
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In the wake of the firing of head football coach Ron Zook, the team is meeting Tuesday to decide whether or not it will accept a bowl invitation.
After firing Ron Zook Sunday, the Illini have started searching for their next head coach.
When it comes to the reasons why Illinois' seventh-year head football coach held on to his job for so long and why he finally lost it on Sunday morning, I can boil Zook's problems down to just four.
Illinois coach Ron Zook was fired Sunday after the Illini followed a 6-0 start to this season with a six-game losing streak.
I'm sure that Mike Thomas has his own list of names who he'd like to see as his coach at Illinois. But my advice is this: Aim high.
In Ron Zook's defense, he warned them.
Police are searching for the gunman who shot three people, including an Illini football player, at a weekend party near the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus.
Terry Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune joined The McNeil and Spiegel Show to break down college football.
Illinois rolled through its first six games with big plays, comebacks and happy endings, landing a spot in the Top 25 with a perfect start.
Above everything else on Saturday, as Illinois fans trudged out of Memorial Stadium, they were again reminded of the cold, hard truth that Ron Zook is not a big-time football coach.
I didn't watch the Illinois football game last weekend. Turns out, though, I wasn't the only one. Because, apparently, Ron Zook didn't see much of it, either.
Before the college football season began, I felt that Ron Zook and his University of Illinois football team had the most to prove in the Big Ten in 2011.
Illinois sacked Arizona State's Brock Osweiler six times and turned one into a touchdown in a 17-14 win over the No. 22 Sun Devils on Saturday night.
Football is a game of numbers. But when it comes to the job security of Fighting Illini football coach Ron Zook, might it be a game of figures, as well?
Baffled was again how I found myself last Saturday when Illinois' seventh-year head coach opted to burn highly touted freshman quarterback Reilly O'Toole's redshirt eligibility – by playing him for three meaningless snaps in the fourth quarter of a season opener vs. Arkansas State.
Adam Hoge breaks down which Big Ten coaches are on the hot seat this season and which coaches are completely safe.
The University of Illinois is on the clock. But it's Bruce Weber and Ron Zook who can hear theirs ticking. At about 5 p.m. this evening Illinois will be without an official athletic director for the first time since 1992.
On Tuesday, Fighting Illini senior running back Jason Ford was arrested on suspicion of driving with a suspended license.
There was a fire in Champaign this week. Early Wednesday, a blaze started in a building on Green Street – the main Campustown drag – and destroyed a couple of popular restaurants.
This is the risk you run when you recruit eighth-graders.
The Illini aren't quite living up to expectations but coach Bruce Weber has a plan to fix the team's problems. The Athletic Director has confidence in Weber too.
Ponder this: If Ohio State hadn't tattooed an "L" on the Arkansas Razorbacks Tuesday night in the Sugar Bowl, Ron Zook would have been the 2010-11 Poster Boy for Big Ten Postseason Success.
Well, I'm back from the Texas Bowl and you can color me orange. And impressed.
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.
As a University of Illinois season ticket holder, I've watched a lot of Ron Zook football during the past six years. Most of it bad.
At Federal Plaza, demonstrators expressed concern following the military operation in Iran that killed the country's supreme leader and the impact it may have going forward.
While some people are protesting the attack on Iran, other Chicagoans are celebrating it.
The win extended Chicago's unbeaten streak against Canadian opponents to six matches dating to 2024.
Chicago police said two men were arguing when one of them pulled out a sharp object and stabbed the victim in the arm and side.
Connor Bedard scored for Chicago, which has lost eight of nine and continues to struggle to score.
President Trump posted on social media that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed after a massive U.S. and Israeli military operation Saturday.
Americans weighed in on how long a conflict with Iran might last and what Congress should do.
Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham said the operation would be "violent, extensive and I believe, at the end of the day, successful."
President Trump says his objective in attacking Iran "is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats" from the regime in Tehran. Read his full statement and watch the video here.
President Trump said that "heavy and pinpoint bombing" of Iran would "continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary."
Palatine, Illinois-based Weber has issued a recall of more than 3.2 million metal wire bristle grill brushes because you could ingest the bristles.
This is after Mayor Brandon Johnson vetoed an ordinance that would have banned most hemp-derived products this weekend.
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.
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.
Not one, but two hotels are now planned or proposed for Chicago's Northalsted LGBTQ+ nightlife district.
After the Double Door closed in Wicker Park, there was reassurance that the Double Door would return, at a new location in the city's Uptown neighborhood. Now that is not happening anymore.
Barnes & Noble was set to reopen in Skokie on Wednesday, just weeks after it closed.
Trader Joe's is opening a new location in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood.
The district laid out a $630 million plan to remake Soldier Field into a major concert venue and events space.
Singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka, known for his hits like "Laughter in the Rain," "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" and "Calendar Girl," has died.
A 19th-century George Méliès film, thought to be long lost, has been found among a box of brittle movie reels that a Michigan donor brought to the Library of Congress, officials said.
Streaming giant Netflix declined to match Paramount Skydance's $31 per share offer for Warner Bros. Discovery.
After the Double Door closed in Wicker Park, there was reassurance that the Double Door would return, at a new location in the city's Uptown neighborhood. Now that is not happening anymore.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has announced its 2026 list of nominees, including Phil Collins, Mariah Carey, Wu-Tang Clan and more.
Scouts from the Chicago area and Northwest Indiana gathered here at the DePaul College of Law. The girls spent the day exploring the legal profession while being mentored by accomplished women lawyers and judges.
Police say the 36-year-old man was missing for six days before he was found in quicksand-like muck at a sand plant.
The shipment arrived from the United Arab Emirates and was headed to Florida. An X-ray revealed the sword-like objects, and an archaeologist later confirmed that the artifacts are antiquities.
The actor said Jackson Sr. inspired him as a young man.
Staying breezy for these next 36 hours across Chicagoland so lake-effect snow and flurries remain in the forecast tonight and Sunday.
President Trump said that "heavy and pinpoint bombing" of Iran would "continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary."
At Federal Plaza, demonstrators expressed concern following the military operation in Iran that killed the country's supreme leader and the impact it may have going forward.
Chicago police said two men were arguing when one of them pulled out a sharp object and stabbed the victim in the arm and side.
While some people are protesting the attack on Iran, other Chicagoans are celebrating it.
Police said three men were shot, one killed, in the basement of a Northwest Side home Saturday afternoon.
If you feel like you're drowning in a sea of text alerts and desperate email pleas for "just $5" this election season, you are far from alone.
A north suburban school bus driver became a victim of sophisticated scammers who are targeting more people and more vulnerable populations to make more money.
Both couples are still actively fighting for their kids, knowing it will be a long and complicated road.
The mother of an 8-year-old boy who was allegedly put in a chokehold and dragged by the neck by a Chicago Public Schools employee hopes her lawsuit and choice to speak out will help protect students in the future.
A jury on Wednesday awarded $5.74 million in damages to a Chicago family who accused police of violating their civil rights in a botched raid of their home in 2018.
The win extended Chicago's unbeaten streak against Canadian opponents to six matches dating to 2024.
Connor Bedard scored for Chicago, which has lost eight of nine and continues to struggle to score.
Morez Johnson Jr. had 19 points and 11 rebounds against his former team as No. 3 Michigan defeated No. 10 Illinois 84-70 and clinched Big Ten regular-season title.
It's already been a historic season for the University of Chicago men's basketball team, and they still have one big goal out in front of them.
Ryan O'Reilly scored with 3:16 remaining and the Nashville Predators scored three times in the third period in a 4-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in the teams' first game following the Olympic break.
A judge has sentenced a Wisconsin man who forged threats against President Donald Trump as part of a deportation scheme to 16½ years in prison.
A man has been charged with shooting and killing a father and son following a jewelry store robbery last November in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago.
Two men are charged with filing a false police report, claiming they were robbed of millions of dollars worth of jewelry.
Chicago police issued an alert Thursday about a rash of criminal sexual assaults that have happened on one block on Chicago's West Side, committed by a man who lures his victims by setting up dates through an escort app.
Chicago police issued a community alert Thursday about a string of smash-and-grab burglaries targeting businesses on the city's North and Northwest sides.
