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.
Authorities are investigating the "suspicious deaths" of two adults and six children following a house fire Friday morning in Grand Haven Township, Michigan.
While Mayor Brandon Johnson hasn't announced if he will run for re-election next year, he's boasting about lower vacancy rates for Mag Mile buildings and taking credit for the positive changes.
A Lockport foster parent said he lost his kids, job and home for months after a mix-up that landed his name on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry.
Nearly four years since drag performer Tyvon Marco Henderson was gunned down behind his West Garfield Park home, his murder remains unsolved, but his family's fight for justice and to keep his memory alive lives on.
Paramount Skydance on Friday said it would delay the deal until as late as June 2027.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has purchased commercial spyware that can covertly take control of phones, collect messages, photos and location information.
A new lawsuit argues that Wisconsin's elections commission is wrongly blocking absentee voters from canceling their ballots and requesting new ones, with nearly 91,000 ballots already returned ahead of the Aug. 11 primary.
The Illinois Legislative Ethics Commission voted on Thursday to publish a report outlining details of the investigation that led to state Rep. Harry Benton (D-Chicago) to resign his post earlier this month.
Voters in Chicago will have a chance to decide in November if the city should go after the federal government for money spent dealing with the Trump Administration's immigration crackdown and Operation Midway Blitz.
The Secret Service said a member of Vice President JD Vance's detail is under investigation for "compromising operational and information security."
The Trump administration is taking aim at power grid operator PJM Interconnection over rising electricity bills that affect Illinois and Indiana residents.
Chicago remained the most bed bug-treated city in the country, according to Orkin's latest annual rankings covering a full year of residential and commercial treatment data.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul this week warned residents cleaning up from last month's storms to be on the lookout for scams.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday signed several new consumer protections into law, including a ban on junk fees.
CBS News Chicago has learned that Illinois home insurance premiums are not only higher than the nation's average, but going up faster too.
East Chicago, Indiana is being placed on a precautionary boil water advisory starting Monday morning for planned installations that could affect water safety.
A new Northwestern Medicine study on long COVID shows women show more neurological symptoms than men.
A lettuce supplier to fast-food giant Taco Bell has been linked to a nationwide cyclosporiasis outbreak that has sickened thousands of people, the CDC said.
Chicago just barely made the top 20 in the American College of Sports Medicine's 2026 ranking of the country's fittest cities.
In a major turnaround in the opioid crisis, overdose deaths are falling across Chicago and Cook County.
The food deserts on Chicago's South and West sides could spread even wider if seven Save A Lot grocery stores close.
Illinois American Water and Aqua Illinois are both seeking rate increases that would raise monthly bills by as much as $28, while their parent companies seek regulatory approval to merge — a deal a consumer watchdog says would give one company control of nearly all regulated water customers in the state.
The Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general from several states secured a right-to-repair settlement Wednesday with agriculture equipment giant Deere & Co. — commonly known as John Deere — that requires the company to let farmers and independent shops fix their own equipment.
Chicago Soul Café opened Monday at 6248 S. St. Lawrence Ave.
The Chicago Bears this weekend said they are assessing land at Wolf Lake Terminals in Hammond, Indiana, for a possible new stadium.
Paramount Skydance on Friday said it would delay the deal until as late as June 2027.
Iowa announced a fall exhibition game against Kansas at the Field of Dreams ballpark, where major and minor league games have been played since 2021.
Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" is the first film shot entirely on 70mm IMAX cameras, and Cinemark Seven Bridges in Woodridge is 1 of roughly 30 theaters nationwide equipped to show it that way.
Brenda Fricker won an Academy Award for 1989's "My Left Foot," played the Pigeon Lady in "Home Alone 2" and appeared in "A Time to Kill" and "So I Married an Axe Murderer."
The actor's agent said he was providing more information following news reports "which contain inaccuracies and outright falsehoods."
Former President Barack Obama surprised the WNBA All-Stars before their practice at his new Presidential Center on Friday.
More than 60,000 people have fled wildfires in southern France, where hundreds of firefighters have been deployed. France also has asked for assistance from other European countries.
A cyclospora outbreak linked to shredded iceberg lettuce from central Mexico has expanded to four more states, including Illinois. Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that typically infects people through contaminated food or water. It causes cyclosporiasis, a gastrointestinal illness that can result in symptoms including severe diarrhea.
Chicago city leaders are celebrating an increasing number of visitors and lower crime numbers on the Magnificent Mile, the city's most prominent shopping district. While Mayor Brandon Johnson hasn't announced if he will run for re-election next year, he's boasting about lower vacancy rates for Mag Mile buildings and taking credit for the positive changes.
A foster parent in Lockport found himself out of a job, out of his home and away from his kids after wrongly being put on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry. How did it happen? And how could it be fixed?
A Lockport foster parent said he lost his kids, job and home for months after a mix-up that landed his name on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry.
Authorities are investigating the "suspicious deaths" of two adults and six children following a house fire Friday morning in Grand Haven Township, Michigan.
A Chicago man with a fragrance YouTube channel is facing charges of mail fraud and theft for allegedly buying luxury perfumes online, swapping the bottles for modeling clay, then resealing and returning them for a refund.
While Mayor Brandon Johnson hasn't announced if he will run for re-election next year, he's boasting about lower vacancy rates for Mag Mile buildings and taking credit for the positive changes.
United Airlines has scrapped plans to start offering flights from Chicago O'Hare to 10 regional airports, blaming the move on an order to cap flights.
While Mayor Brandon Johnson hasn't announced if he will run for re-election next year, he's boasting about lower vacancy rates for Mag Mile buildings and taking credit for the positive changes.
A Lockport foster parent said he lost his kids, job and home for months after a mix-up that landed his name on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry.
Record heat and major air quality issues created by wildfire smoke were key topics as some of the top climate leaders from around the world gathered in Chicago this week for the Aspen Institute's annual climate summit.
Police say a man and a woman were last seen speaking with the victim before the shooting.
Neighbors in the Avalon Park neighborhood said their community has been plagued by squatters, weeds, rats, and water leaks – all thanks to an abandoned home that's been sitting vacant for years.
Kane said he feels strong three years after undergoing a major hip resurfacing surgery and rehabbing his way back for three solid seasons with the Detroit Red Wings.
The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office said Romo was pulled over around 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Brianna Turner said on social media that her former team, the Indiana Fever, fired a male employee last season for sexual harassment.
Former President Barack Obama surprised the WNBA All-Stars before their practice at his new Presidential Center on Friday.
The biggest stars of the WNBA are arriving in Chicago for this weekend's All-Star Game, but before that, dozens of kids took to the court to learn from some former pros on the South Side.
Madison, Wisconsin remains one of the only cities of its size without a police body camera program, leaving key moments of a fatal officer-involved shooting unrecorded.
A man was killed and a teenage boy was wounded in a shooting on Thursday evening in the West Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago.
A man and a woman were found shot and killed inside a car on Thursday evening on the University of Chicago campus in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
Madison's chief of police says an officer in Wisconsin's capital city shot and killed a man who had injured him with a knife while resisting arrest.
Three men have been convicted of a string of violent robberies targeting liquor stores, convenience stores, and bars in Chicago in 2023 and 2024.
