Illini Football: 2008 Season - Roster Information - History - Future Schedules
Illini Basketball: 2008/09 Season - Scholarship Chart - Depth Chart
NCAA Football: Preseason Rankings - Bowl Tie-Ins
Other UI Sports: Volleyball - Soccer

Monday, January 28, 2008

Spend my money!!!

on the upper right hand corner of your screen you can find a poll entitled "What game should I attend next year?"

The premise is pretty simple... Besides the 7 games in Memorial Stadium and likely the Missouri game... I want to make a road trip to an opposing Big Ten Stadium... part of my goal of seeing a football and basketball game on every Big Ten Campus... so far my list is kinda bare on the football side: (x's represent number of games I've attended)



Basketball Football
Indiana
xx
Iowa xxxx
Michigan xx
Michigan State

Minnesota

Northwestern xxx
Ohio State x
Penn State

Purdue xxx
Wisconsin


This year things are looking up... the football team should be good, we have some huge games scheduled... and I have enough spending change to try and make one or two road trips (especially since I have zeroed out my basketball travel account for the next couple seasons)

I'm stuck debating between whether to go: Madison, Ann Arbor, or Happy Valley...

You might be asking yourself "why isn't northwestern an option"... well, I'll probably go to that game, but it will be a drive-up-the-day-of and take the train to the game then get the f*ck out of Evanston trip... not much game-day experience to take in...

But I need some help deciding... between the three you get to vote on here are my thoughts:

Madison
Pro's - Short(er) trip (coming from Southern Illinois), I might have a reasonably close place to stay, cost effective all around. Plus Madison is a campus I've never been to.
Con's - horror stories about the tremendous tools that Wisconsin fans are... their god-awful f*cking band

Ann Arbor
Pro's: largest stadium in the nation, possibly a team that we can beat up on (we'll see after signing day)
Con's: I've already been to Ann Arbor before... I haven't been to the other two places.

Happy Valley
Pro's: another huge ass stadium, never been to Penn State, this is probably the one I want to go to the most
Con's: Mostly distance... quite a hike out to central Pennsylvania.


Comments on where I should go are welcome, along with your own experiences...


*DISCLAIMER*
I promise to make a good faith effort to attend whichever game wins... this means I will put in for tickets from the UI ticket office and if that fails I will give EBay or Stub Hub a look and try and get something for a reasonable price... this doesn't mean I will be going to the game come hell or high water though...

Take your marks..... get set........ BANG!

Evidently a cheerful, optimistic bunch of people have been reading this site.... 38% of you (88 people) thought we would go 8-0 in the Big Ten next year.... 88% of you thought we would win at least 6 games...

time to knock you all down a peg or two.

last night, while most of us were in a delirium over Illinois throttling of Northwestern news came out that Illinois reserve LB Erique Robertson was sitting in Champaign County jail on $50,000 bond....

what did he do wrong pray tell?

Well, the News-Gazoo paints a flattering picture:

Officers were sent to the area on a report of shots fired, Dunn said. Witnesses reported seeing a man shooting a gun and gave police a description, she said.

When police arrived, one officer reported seeing muzzle flashes and hearing shots, Dunn said. No one was injured by the shooting, Dunn said.

Police arrested Robertson for unlawful use of a weapon, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, aggravated reckless discharge of a firearm and resisting or obstructing justice, according to Dunn. Robertson was released Sunday after posting 10 percent on $50,000 bond.


So far nothing more than a boilerplate release from the DIA... it'll probably be a few days before the whole story comes out... rumors state it was a starter pistol he fired, not a real gun... which would downgrade his actions from Class X Thuggery to Grade A Shenanigans... although it still might not help him out too much in terms of the multiple felonies he is facing. One thing is for certain, this is certainly gonna help our defense of the 2007 Fulmer Cup

One thing is for certain, out of the gates Mr. Robertson is a strong (and hopefully the only) contender for the:

2008 Ellis-McPherson Memorial Game of Life "Participant" ribbon

... (more on that prestigious award whenever I post my 2007 Season Awards, which should be in the next few days).

In slightly less annoying news... Signing Day is just over a week away... when we can finally sit down and look at who is gonna be on campus next fall.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Around Illini Nation... Illini Tennis preview:

While the purpose of this blog will mostly be to cover Illinois football... I plan on throwing in some coverage of other Illinois sports.

If basketball didn't infuriate me, it would get fairly heavy billing (at least during the season itself, I don't plan on talking about any sports out-of-season except for football) ... but I also plan on throwing in a bit on non-revenue sports... in particular I'll try and do an at-least weekly post on baseball/softball this spring, and see how that goes...

but we will start off with a gander at the Illini Tennis program.

Last year the Illini, who have absolutely dominated the Big Ten for the last decade, failed to win either the Big Ten regular season or tournament... a disappointing result...

but, the Illini, seeded #10, came alive in the NCAA tournament, including a huge 4-2 upset win over #2 seed Ohio State in the quarterfinals and another program-defining win over Baylor in the National Semifinals... the Illini, however, were not enough for #1 Georgia, and lost 4-0 in Athens in the national championship game.

Still, it was a very pleasant ending to had been a very good, but not good-enough by Illinois standards, season.

Beginners Guide to College Tennis:
For those who aren't familiar with College Tennis, the season is typically split up into 2 halves. In the fall, players typically participate in individual tournaments, with dual matches between teams dominating the spring schedule. Illinois has 20 dual matches scheduled, plus up to 4 matches in the 16-team Indoor National Championships (not an official NCAA championship, hosted in Seattle this year), followed by the Big Ten Tournament (3-4 matches) which will be hosted by Iowa. Similar to basketball, all conference tournament champions, and a host of at-large teams, are invited to the 64 team NCAA tournament. The top 16 teams are seeded, and provided they have adequate facilities and no hostile or abusive mascots, will host the first and second rounds. Winners of the 16 regionals advance to the national tournament, which will be in Tulsa, Oklahoma this spring.

The Illini have 11 home matches scheduled (including the opener last Friday, in which the Illini defeated Ball State 7-0). All matches are free to the public (except for NCAA matches, if we host) and hosted at the Atkins Tennis Center (located west of Assembly Hall and the baseball field, parking is available off of Kirby/Florida Avenue if the fields are dry, and also at the Ubben Basketball Center.)

How matches work:
Matches use 6 courts (which are numbered, 1-6). The winning team is decided by the team that wins the most out of 7 available points (so 4 points wins the match).

Matches start off with 3 Doubles matches played concurrently on courts 1-3. In theory teams pit their best doubles pair against the best from the opposing team, and their second best against the opponents second best... and so on. Doubles matches are played to 8 games, and you must win by 2 games. Tiebreaks are used if matches get tied at 8-8. The team that wins at least 2 of the 3 doubles matches gets 1 team point (The "doubles point") and leads the match 1-0.

There is then an intermission, and then teams come out for the singles competition. There are six singles matches, with the match at court #1 being between the best players from each team, and so on down to the #6 singles. Each singles match is worth 1 team point, so the team that lost the doubles point would need to win 4 of the 6 singles matches to win the match, while the team that won the doubles point would only need to win half. Matches are best 2 of 3 sets to 6 games (just like what you usually see on TV), although once the match is decided they will sometimes shorten up the 3rd sets on courts that haven't been decided yet.

In tournament play (indoor nationals, big ten tournament, and NCAA's), matches are suspended as soon as a team has clinched victory (when one team wins 2 of the doubles matches, and when a team has earned 4 points during singles play)... during the regular season all matches are played to their conclusion.

Matches usually last for 3 or so hours before the victor is determined, but if you are in Champaign its really not a bad way to spend an afternoon or an evening... especially in the winter when the matches are indoors and you can go up to the balcony and watch 6 matches at once.

Illinois boasts the only tennis pep band in the nation (occasionally the Orange and Blues band will play during indoor matches) and one of the only tennis student sections in the nation (The Net Nuts, which can get a couple hundred students out to big matches). Usually there are a few hundred people at matches, and the team has built up a pretty loyal following amongst community members who are regulars at the tennis center.

A look at Illinois:
The Illini lost GD Jones (to graduation) and Kevin Anderson (who turned pro) from last years second place team.

Replacing them in the top 6 is Senior Brandon Davis and newcomer Waylon Chin. Seniors Ruben Gonzales and Ryan Rowe will form the heart of the team with sophomore Billy Heiser and Junior Mark Spicijaric playing 3 and 4 singles.

Here is the UI Roster, with starters against Ball State listed:
Singles
Position
National
Rank
Name Year Hometown (Last School)
1
Ruben Gonzales SR Terre Haute, Ind. (Indiana University High School)
2 15 Ryan Rowe SR Moline, Ill. (Lighthouse Christian Academy)
3 70 Billy Heiser SO Vernon Hills, Ill. (Laurel Springs School)
4
Marc Spicijaric JR Wesley Chapel, Fla. (Saddlebrook Prep)
5
Brandon Davis SR Austin, Texas (St. Stephens/Texas Tech High School)
6
Waylon Chin FR Boynton Beach, Fla. (Florida Virtual School)


Calon Alpar FR Austin, Texas (Westlake High School)


Jordan Knue SO Western Springs, Ill. (Lyons Township)


Connor Roth FR Lisle, Ill. (Benet Academy)


Abe Souza FR St. Louis, Mo. (St. Louis University HIgh School)


Around the Big Ten:
To start the season 8 Big Ten teams are ranked in the top 75.
3.) Ohio State
8.) ILLINOIS
21.) Michigan
27.) Wisconsin
40.) Penn State
41.) Minnesota
61.) Indiana
65.) Northwestern


Home schedule:
The Illini have a tough schedule, with five home matches against top 25 teams

Date Opponent Time
1/18/2008 Ball State W 7-0
1/25/2008 #1 Virginia 6:00 PM
2/9/2008 #19 Louisiana State 6:00 PM
2/29/2008 Michigan State 6:00 PM
3/1/2008 #12 Notre Dame 6:00 PM
3/8/2008 Purdue 6:00 PM
3/12/2008 #62 Texas Christian 6:00 PM
4/5/2008 #40 Penn State 12:00 PM
4/6/2008 #21 Michigan 12:00 PM
4/12/2008 #3 Ohio State 12:00 PM
4/13/2008 #61 Indiana 12:00 PM

Thursday, January 24, 2008

2008 Schedule shuffle?

according to FI.com.... this is our 2008 football schedule (which is a work in progress):
Date Opponent / Event Location Time
08/30/08 vs. Missouri in State Farm
Arch Rivalry Game
St. Louis, Mo. TBA
09/06/08 vs. EASTERN ILLINOIS MEMORIAL STADIUM TBA
09/13/08 vs. LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE MEMORIAL STADIUM TBA
09/20/08 TBD TBD TBA
09/27/08 at Penn State * University Park, Pa. TBA
10/04/08 at Michigan * Ann Arbor, Mich. TBA
10/11/08 vs. MINNESOTA * MEMORIAL STADIUM TBA
10/18/08 vs. INDIANA * MEMORIAL STADIUM TBA
10/25/08 at Wisconsin * Madison, Wis. TBA
11/01/08 vs. Iowa * MEMORIAL STADIUM TBA
11/15/08 vs. OHIO STATE * MEMORIAL STADIUM TBA
11/22/08 at Northwestern * Evanston, Ill. TBA

but according to this unconfirmed post on Indiana's scout.com site...

Indiana might be playing in Champaign on the 13th of September.

Which means our date with the Ragin' Cajuns might be in jeopardy...

Basically, if this is true, then we have

September 20th
October 18th
November 8th

to find 2 more games...

I find it very hard to believe that Illinois would agree to swapping dates with IU unless both teams agreed... so itll be interesting to see what the ultimate result will be.

while we are at it... lets laugh for a second at IU's possible schedule:


8/30 Murray State
9/13 at Illinois
9/20 Ball State
9/27 Michigan State
10/4 at Minnesota
10/11 Iowa
10/18 Western Kentucky
10/25 Northwestern
11/1 Central Michigan
11/8 Wisconsin
11/15 at Penn State
11/22 at Purdue

gotta give them credit... even a team as mediocre as them should be bowling with that slate...

8 home games, 5 straight at home? *shudder*


Tuesday, January 22, 2008

2007 Year in Review: Illinois @ Ohio State

Better 2.5 months late than never...


Part I



Part II


Part III...

I promise this will be up by tax day

VERY early brief Spring Preview: Offense

I might more in depth at a later point in time, but here's a quick look at what the Illini are dealing with going into spring ball:

I don't believe that dates/times for spring practice have been announced yet... using the last few years as a guide I would imagine practice will start the weekend of March 22nd or 29th with the spring game April 19th or 26th...

Quarterback:
How we did: Pretty well overall. Whether or not we passed the ball well (and we weren't terrible), Juice is the heart and soul of this team (Especially with Rashard gone), and he did an excellent job executing our offense, especially in the run game, last fall.
Who's gone: Mark Venegoni, walkon QB For the last four seasons. Technically he was only a RS Junior, but he participated in Senior Day activities, so my guess is that he is hanging it up.
How much does it hurt?: None. Kudos for four years of service to the program, and it was good to see him get some snaps at the end of the Northwestern game, but this won't affect the product on the field this fall at all.
What we need: If we get a player who is better than Juice, thats great, but with a likely redshirt for any incoming QB, nobody coming in will be helping us next season. Right now we need depth at the QB position.
Who's new: Phil Haig was on the roster last year, but was red shirted, this will be his first Spring Session with the Illini, there are no new QB's joining the team in the spring.
How much can they help?: Hard to tell.
Who's still around: Juice Williams, Eddie McGee, Billy Garza (who *might* not be back), Ryan Baise (walkon)
Who's coming in the fall: Jacob Charest, 3-4* QB from North Carolina, possible heir-apparant to Juice.
What's up for grabs: I wouldn't rule out Eddie making an argument for the starting spot, but in all likely hood the matchup to watch will be Eddie vs. Phil Haig for the #2 spot... (and that may not be much of a competition either, but its a chance to see what Phil's got)


Halfback:
How we did: Really, really good. Let's just say that "FivePointSixYardsandaCloudofRubber.blogspot.com" is even harder to type into the address bar... otherwise i might have gone with that.
Who's gone: Big Ten Player of the year Rashard Mendenhall.
How much does it hurt?: uncle! UNCLE!!!!
Who's still around: Daniel Dufrene figures to be the starting tailback for the Illini this fall. Walter Mendenhall only got a few carries this year, but he could see some snaps this fall... Walksons Maurice Haney, Tyler Pacha, and Mike Mucha round out the squad.
What we need: Another Rashard Mendenhall. Failing that, we need a solid power back to compliment smaller shiftier backs like Dufrene and Pollard
Who's new: Mikel LeShoure, 3* from Champaign Centennial High School will be on campus this spring. Troy Pollard (who saw limited action this year before an ACL injury) should be back from his Medical Redshirt.
How much can they help?: Potentially quite a bit... LeShoure has the size to be a power back, and was very impressive in HS... maybe its folks in East Central Illinois drinking too much kool-ade, but he could be something special, regardless, he is certainly more than your typical token "townie" on the roster.
Who's coming in the fall: Althoff sensation Jason Ford will join the team in the summer, he should be competing with LeShoure for significant playing time this fall.
What's up for grabs: With Rashard gone all bets are off, my personal feeling is that we return to runningback-by-committee and we will see 3 or so players get significant minutes this fall... we have 5 scholarship backs fighting for playing time this spring, with Ford potentially entering the mix this fall (and I don't like to talk much about uncommitted prospects, but 5* RB Jamie Harper has Illinois on his radar, and if he commits alot could change.)

Fullback:
How we did: Pretty good, Russ Weil was very solid for the Illini this year, helping greatly in pass protection and especially as a lead blocker.
Who's gone: Russ Weil, which pretty much means about 90% of our snaps at FB this year.
How much does it hurt?: FB isn't exactly the most vital position in our offense, but its nice to have a solid player at the position... added TE depth (more below) should factor in, but we need to replace Weil none the less.
Who's still around: another LB turned FB, Rahkeem Smith, who started for the injured Weil against Northwestern, should be starting this fall. Walkon Nick Levanti is also listed on the roster, but he doesn't have a bio on FI.com so I don't know much about him.
What we need: We need Rahkeem to be a solid lead blocker and pound open holes for whatever tailback happens to be in the game... additional depth would be nice at the position, buts its not an area of great concern.
Who's new: Nobody really.
How much can they help?: uh...
Who's coming in the fall: Nobody.
What's up for grabs: Playing time. If Rahkeem proves himself a valuable asset on the field, he will see a good amount of action. If he doesn't, then we probably don't use a FB that often.

Tight End:
How we did: Not exactly a position to rave about, but Hoo-man did his thing... he blocked some, he caught a few passes, got a couple of touchdowns, and his last name confused the living hell out of pretty much the entire Big Ten Network.
Who's gone: Nobody. I suppose we can officially declare Jeff Cumberland not-a-tight end anymore...
How much does it hurt?: a little as far as depth goes, but we have help on the way.
Who's still around: Michael Hoomanawanui, plus walkon Tom Sullivan who found his way onto the field every once in a while in short yardage situations.
What we need:We need someone who can shred defenses catching the ball and still block for the running game. Hoomanawanui is a very solid player, but not quite the dual threat type of player I would like to see us have.
Who's new: Nobody this spring.
How much can they help?: N/A
Who's coming in the fall: 4* Hubie Graham and 3* London Davis, ranked 12th and 51st in the nation per scout.
What's up for grabs: Not much in the spring, tight end could be a contest this fall though.

Offensive Line:
How we did: Most improved unit on the team by a country mile this year. Our blocking for the run game was outstanding, and except for the USC game, Juice was pretty safe in the pocket this year. The USC game exposed our weaknesses, but the unit continues to get better, and should be a strong part of the team next year.
Who's gone: Starting LG Martin O'Donnell and starting RT Akim Millington are both gone.
How much does it hurt?: O'Donnell will be sorely missed, after a lackluster start to his Illinois career, Akim Millington became a pretty solid tackle and will also be missed. Charles Myles ("Big Chuck") is also presumably gone after being injured before the start of his RS senior year.
Who's still around: Three starters: Ryan McDonald (C), Xavier Fulton (LT), and Jon Asamoah (RG) will be defending their starting positions. Randal Hunt, Brandon Jordan, Ryan Palmer, and Eric Block are returning players who look to get significant playing time.
What we need: More depth, more speed.
Who's new: Mark Jackson, Craig Wilson, and Jack Cornell are all coming off of redshirt seasons, and will be competing to move up the depth chart this spring. Graham Pocic and Jeff Allen are both on campus this spring, and will almost certainly redshirt this fall. Pocic, the #16 OT in the nation, is the highest rated lineman in the class.
How much can they help?: TBD. I think Wilson and Cornell especially will be fighting for alot of potential playing time.
Who's coming in the fall: Tyler Sands and Ryan Sedlacek
What's up for grabs: Right now I have Jack Cornell inked to replace O'Donnell at LG and Ryan Palmer (who played 2nd string most of last year) at the RT position. I would expect Craig Wilson and Mark Jackson, in particular, to battle for a starting job as well. This might be one of the hottest competitions this spring.


Wide Receivers:
How we did: Mixed bag. Arrelious Benn is "The Truth", Jeff Cumberland returned from the grave to be a star in the last third of the season, Jacob Willis went from another face on the sideline to someone we are gonna miss. Joe Morgan and Marques Wilkins struggled at times, and Kyle Hudson was on and off as well. Brian Gamble turned out to be the suprise player from the 07 recruiting class, having a pretty solid freshman campaign, but there is a chance he goes back to being a DB next year.
Who's gone: DaJuan Warren, Jacob Willis, and Frank Lenti Jr.
How much does it hurt?: Jacob Willis will hurt... he was probably our best deep threat last year... catching bombs for TD's against Minnesota and Ohio State late in the year. DaJuan found a bit of time late in the year but was largely passed up by the youth movement, Lenti Jr spent all year as the holder for kicks, and did a commendable job at it.
Who's still around: Benn, Cumberland, Hudson, Morgan, Wilkins are the core of the group, with Gamble a possible returner to WR as well. Greg McClendon and Will Judson are also on the roster with walkons Jack Eastman, Kevin Bailey, and Alex Reavy. Also not to be forgotten (and most notable) is Chris James, who was probably the #2 receiver going into last year, but sat out with a medical redshirt.
What we need: Someone to hold onto the damn ball. We got better at it last year, and will likely be better next year.
Who's new: Fred Sykes, a 2* prospect, will be on campus this spring. Jarred Fayson, a 4* transfer from Florida is on campus but will have to sit out the 08 season. He will be a big part of what could be a f*%&ing amazing WR corp for Juice's senior year.
How much can they help?: Sykes is probably a redshirt candidate, and Fayson won't be around until 09...
Who's coming in the fall: Four top-80 prospects. Russell Ellington (3*, #80), Suppo Sanni (3*, #51), Cordale Scott (4*, #37) and A.J. Jenkins (4*, #36). All four of them have a real shot at getting playing time this fall... the incoming class of WR's and TE's is ranked #2 in the nation by Scout.com....
What's up for grabs: Arrelious Benn will be starting at one of the WR slots next year. Thats about all we know. If I had to guess I'd say Chris James and Jeff Cumberland will defending starting jobs leaving the spring game... We will likely work with a 7-8 man rotation this fall... and with the Freshman we have coming in players like Hudson, Gamble, Wilkins, and Morgan need to perform this spring.

Monday, January 21, 2008

The Scholarship Picture

So where do we stand with scholarships?

Here's the breakdown by recruiting class... for those who don't know, Football Bowl Series Schools get 85 scholarships...




2007 Roster 2008 Roster Leaving Seniors in 08 09 Roster 2008 Walkons
2003 Recruiting Class 7 0 7 --- --- 0
2004 Recruiting Class 13 8 5 8 0 0
2005 Recruiting Class 15 12 3 10 2 6
2006 Recruiting Class 27 24 3 0 24 6
2007 Recruiting Class 18 18 0 0* 18 8
2008 Recruiting Class --- 8 --- 0 8 ---
Verbally Committed for 08^
--- 17 --- --- 19 ---
Scholarships: 80 87 18
71 20

^ committed players taken from Scout.com, 1-21-08
* not sure if Daniel Dufrene will be a Junior or a Senior





I might be missing a couple players from the class of 03, but it really doesn't matter, as they are all done with football. RB recruit Deries Hodge is not included in that list, as people seem pretty certain he will not be on campus this fall (or ever for that matter).

Illinois can use deficit scholarships not used this season on players who enroll a semester early... those players are:

Jeff Allen (OL)
Reggie Ellis (DT)
Jarred Fayson (WR, transfer from Florida, will sit out 08)
Mikel LeShoure (HB)
Whitney Mercilus (DE)
Graham Pocic (OT)
Fred Sykes (WR)
Ashante Williams (CB)


you might notice with players committed and with players projected to commit we currently have 2 too many scholarships spoken for.... which means that one way or another 2 current players or recruits need to find a way to not show up on campus this fall... there are bound to be a couple of transfers or non-qualifiers, so it will work itself out in the end.

A couple notes:

- Rumors floating around are that Kyle Hudson might forgo his senior year of Football to concentrate on baseball, the way I understand it is not true... and he will play this fall.
- Joe Morgan left the team in December, and alot of people thought he was gone... but I understand that he is back with the team now... so we will see.
- It is possible Billy Garza (RS Senior QB) might not be back this fall, according to Lindsey Willhite's Blog (good rundown of the current roster situation can be found there as well)
- Same with Dan Motuliak (Senior OL)

Neither Garza or Motuliak figure to see much (if any at all) playing time next fall... Morgan and Hudson might be moving down the depth chart this fall depending how things go this spring, but they both could very well be contributors next year if they stay with the program.


Along those lines, here are how the scholarships break down by what class players will be in 08:


Redshirted Non-Redshirt Total
Freshman 11 23 34
Sophomore 13 6 19
Junior 14 3 17
Senior 8 9 17
TOTAL:
58 29 87

so going into next season, the average scholarship athlete on the team will have 1.86 years of college experience... so we are still a young team.

Academic Class:

Freshman
23
Sophomore
17
Junior
16
Senior
23
Super-Senior
8
Total:
87

Sunday, January 20, 2008

This Week in Illini athletics:

Here's a look of what's on tap this week in Illini athletics:


Monday:
Women's Basketball: Iowa @ Illinois (Big Ten Network) 7:00 PM
The 12-6 (3-3) Illini need a win over the 10-7 (3-3) squacks.... winner moves into a tie for 4th place in the Big Ten, loser drops to 8th place.


Women's Tennis: Western Michigan @ Illinois 12:00 PM

Tuesday:
Men's Basketball: Illinois @ Ohio State (Big Ten Network) 8:00 PM
The men sink even further into the abyss... LIVE on the Big Ten Network!


Thursday:
Women's Basketball: Michigan State @ Illinois 7:00 PM
Big game for the women... two wins this week could move the Illini into 3rd place in the Big Ten. MSU isn't very good this year.

Friday:
Men's Tennis: #1 Virginia @ #8 Illinois 6:00PM (Atkins Tennis Center)
Illini are riding a 15 match home court winning streak, and they have to play the best team in the nation this Friday... match's at Atkins are actually fairly entertaining if you are in town. Stay tuned for a bit of non-revenue sport coverage on this site, including a tennis preview in the next day or so

Women's Gymnastics: Illinois @ Iowa (Big Ten Network) 7:00 PM
sure, by the time they are in college it might as well be the "senior tour"... but if you want to watch petite girls do splits on National TV, you better hope you don't have Comcast.

Club Ice Hockey: #8 Ohio University @ #1 Illinois
The 23-0-0 Illini are probably the best team on campus... and a pretty entertaining way to spend a Friday Night...


Saturday:
Men's and Women's Track and Field: Carle/Health Alliance Invite @ The Armory
Participating are: EIU, ISU, Lincoln University, DePaul, NIU, SIU-Carbondale, and Tennessee State (maybe we can beat them in Champaign this time? (yes, I went there))

Women's Tennis: Illinois @ Tennessee

Men's Gymnastics: Illinois @ Ohio State

Club Ice Hockey: #8 Ohio University @ #1 Illinois
The hopefully 24-0-0 Illini wrap up their series against the Bobcats.


Sunday:
Men's Basketball: Northwestern @ Illinois (Big Ten Network) 7:00 PM
whoopie

Women's Basketball: Illinois @ Purdue 1:00 PM
Will the women's team give up a 20-3 run?

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Juice vs. Eddie...

Lets look at the QB ratings for the two players over the course of the past year. The blue line representing Eddie McGee, the orange line representing Juice... the chart represents the cumulative QB rating for each athlete (that is, based on their complete stats up to that point in the season.

Take it for whatever its worth, I provide the numbers, you can decide what significance it might hold... Eddie's huge leap came from a single pass, a 56 yard TD to Benn late against USC.... that was the first time he had slung the ball downfield for the Illini since the Michigan game (having not attempted a pass against Northwestern or Minnesota, and having not played vs. Ball State or Ohio State).

In the final analysis... that one pass to Benn late against USC was enough to allow Eddie to finish just ahead of Juice in total passer rating...

A better look at Juice, here is his career stats... the bars represent individual game performances, the green line represents his cumulative career QB Rating... (remember the first three games of 2006 he was a backup... and if you combine those three games into one, his QB rating is similar to other early season performances like Indiana and Michigan State, where he was fairly good)

Slowely but surely his numbers have crept upwards since hitting rock bottom against Purdue and Northwestern last year... actually his two wost performances of the year were against Indiana and Penn State, big wins for Illinois (against Indiana the Illini didn't need to throw the ball, and his struggles against PSU are well documented).

2007 Year in Review: Wisconsin @ Illinois

Biggest win for Illinois football in a LOONG time... Illinois snaps the longest winning streak in the nation and defeats Wisconsin to go to 3-0 in the Big Ten

Friday, January 18, 2008

2007 Year in Review: Penn State @ Illinois

Two for the price of one... Illinois beats a ranked team for the first time since 2001, and I have officially ran out of "epic" songs to use for the season....

2007 Year in Review: Illinois @ Indiana

Illinois goes for its first Big Ten opener win in, uh... a long time.

Will Davis earns Big Ten Defensive co-player of the week for beating the crap out of Kellen Lewis, and Rashard Mendenhall goes nuts and produced 232 yards of offense, 2 touchdowns, and one kickass spin move... earning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week.

2007 Year in Review: Illinois @ Syracuse

Nancy Cantor be damned!

Illinois wins a road game... and Illini fans everywhere rejoice at the fact that we just *might* come close to making a bowl game this year.

2007 Year in Review: Western Illinois @ Illinois

continuing our trip back through memory lane, Western Illinois @ Illinois....

2007 Year in Review: Illinois vs. Missouri

Might as well start by posting last years' videos...

The orange uniforms look sexy

Hello world.

someday something useful might go here.