Out With The Old......In With The New

2011 was quite a year for Fighting Illini sports, both good and bad. As I type this, the football team, captained by interim coach Vic Koenning is winning their bowl game against UCLA in San Francisco, while the basketball team got pummeled at Purdue at around the same time. (More on both of those games later). But, the football program endured its share of ups and downs during the season, and the fact that they are even in a bowl game is a miracle unto itself. After all, this is the same team that started the season 6-0, lost their next 6 games to finish the regular season 6-6, and in the process, fired head coach Ron Zook. That firing led to the naming of Koenning as interim coach, and for the exception of defensive line coach Keith Gilmore, will start fresh with a stable of new coaches under Tim Beckman, who was hired in mid-December to take over the Illini. Koenning, who is headed to North Carolina to become defensive coordinator for Larry Fedora, has done a pretty good job leading the Illini in the meantime, and I must admit that I will be sorry to see him go. But, I understand his reasoning to want to start fresh, especially when there is a new coach coming in from the outside that has his own schemes. This Illini team, who ended up defeating the Bruins 20-14 in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, is the first team in school history to win consecutive bowl games, and with a long standing history of Illinois football, that is remarkable in itself. Granted, when you think Illinois football, winning is not something that immediately comes to mind. But, that is still a feat that warrants mention. This hasn't been the best Illinois team by far, but under Koenning, at least they gave it all they had.

Beckman inherits an Illini team in much better shape than when Zook was named coach after Ron Turner was fired. The only impending question at the moment is whether or not junior defensive lineman Whitney Mercilus will return. Mercilus had a record setting season, and all signs are pointing to him skipping his senior season and taking his game to the next level. All in all, a nice bowl win by the Illini and something to build on as the Tim Beckman era begins in Champaign.

Bruce Weber's Fighting Illini men's basketball team also played on New Year's Eve, and at the same time that the football team was doing battle in San Francisco. The result was not as favorable, however, as the Illini dropped a 75-60 decision to the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette. The Illini have not beaten the Boilers in the last 6 games, which means that nobody on the current squad has tasted victory against them. 2011 was another year of ups and downs for the Illini basketball team, with a return to the NCAA Tournament, and a win against UNLV before losing to Kansas and former coach Bill Self in the third round. Key losses of Demetri McCamey, Mike Davis, Mike Tisdale and Bill Cole to graduation, as well as Jereme Richmond declaring early for the NBA draft. The story of Richmond didn't end very well, as he was not drafted, and ended up getting arrested and could face possible prison time as a result of his misfortunes. Such a tragic turn of events for a promising talent that may have seen his career end before it even began. Nice way to waste four years waiting for him to arrive, and then to have this happen. The defections didn't end with Richmond, however, as earlier last week Crandall Head left the Illinois program, apparently for a lack of playing time. Crandall had his problems while at Illinois, and unlike his brother Luther, who was given a second chance by Weber, never could seem to be consistent on the court. However, this is still a young Illinois team, and this year could be packed with a lot of nights when they play like they did against Purdue. I would just get used to it, and if I were Mike Thomas, maybe it is time to think about a change at the top if things continue on the path that it is at the moment. The Big Ten is competitive, and wins on the road will be hard to come by, no matter who you are.

Perhaps the highlight of 2011 was the remarkable run by the Fighting Illini women's volleyball team, as they made it all the way to the national championship game, before falling to UCLA, who won their fourth title in their storied history. Kevin Hambly had his team set a goal at the beginning of the season, and that goal was to win the title, something that they nearly accomplished. There were a few bumps along the way, but for the most part, the season went according to planned, and was a magical run. Hopefully the ladies can repeat the feat in 2o12 and create some sort of a dynasty for the Illinois program. That is sorely needed in any sport at the moment.

Jolette Law's Illini women's team continues Big Ten play this coming week when they welcome Purdue to the Assembly Hall on Monday to begin 2012. 2011 saw some flashes of promise, as the Illini ladies made a run in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, finally bowing out to Penn State in the semifinals. The loss meant the the Illini have not been to the NCAA Tournament in 8 years, something that drastically needs to change. So far in the 2011-12 campaign, that streak seems in no danger of ending, as they have stumbled out to a 6-8 start to the season, albeit losing Centrese McGee before the season began to an ACL injury. I also hope that Mike Thomas is closely watching this situation and makes the right decision about the future of this program.

Happy New Year! May 2012 bring more promise!!

A Fresh Start

Last Friday, Tim Beckman was introduced as the 23rd head football coach at the University of Illinois, replacing Ron Zook, who was fired late last month. Beckman comes to Illinois from the University of Toledo, where he compiled a 23-16 record over the past 3 seasons, including a 14-2 record in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). There has been an awfully lot of conversation since Beckman was hired, and a good deal of that chatter has not been on the positive side. There are certainly a lot of questions that need to be addressed with this hire, but a couple really stand out above the others. The first question is whether or not this was the correct hire for the University and moving its football program forward. I have mentioned before that Zook left the program much better than he inherited it, and a lot of that is based on his ability to recruit and bring in some of the higher caliber players. Can Beckman carry on that tradtion? A lot of the bigger, more trusted names either were not interested in the job, or were lured away by other schools that have deeper pockets to pay the head coach. Athletic Director Mike Thomas, himself well-known for hiring MAC coaches where he previously was at the University of Cincinnati, is sure that he has hired the right guy for the job. At his introductory press conference when he was introduced, Beckman gave a speech that would lead to believe that he is ready for the job.

The second, and perhaps more important question that the Beckman hire raises is the fate of the current coaching staff and what lies in store for them as the new staff is formed. Interim coach Vic Koenning, who also serves as the defensive coordinator, remains on the staff, but it is unclear as to whether or not he will stay on once Beckman begins to formulate his staff. On Monday, Beckman extended an invitation for Koenning to stay in a co-coordinator role, and then on Tuesday, modified that invitation to the full coordinator spot. Beckman gave Koenning until Wednesday to make up his mind, but rumors have been circulating about Koenning being offered defensive coordinator positions elsewhere that would undoubtedly be worth more money than what Illinois would be willing to pay. The reversal of fortune tells me that Beckman intends to bring in his own man on defense, and who knows how much input Koenning would have. Granted, Koenning has a lot to think about in making this very important decision, as well as trying to get a football team ready to play in a bowl game in just over two weeks from now. Word came out out late on Tuesday that none of the offensive staff will return for next season, so it appears that the dominoes have already begun to fall. And, just announced on Wednesday, Koenning has indeed chosen to leave the program to pursue other opportunities. Koenning will stay with the team through the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, then leave once the bowl game is over. Defensive line coach Keith Gilmore will remain on Beckman's staff as he begins to assemble it over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more information on this breaking news.

For the first time since 1992, the Fighting Illini women's volleyball team is off to the Final Four. They punched their ticket to San Antonio by defeating Florida on their home floor last Saturday evening in an exciting 3-1 match. The match was tight from start to finish, as most regional finals are. The Illini have been one of the top teams in the nation all season long, and remain the highest seed left in the tournament. They will take on the Women of Troy, otherwise known as USC on Thursday evening at the Alamadome in San Antonio (approximately 8:00 pm, ESPN2), following the UCLA-Florida State matchup, which begins at 6:00 pm. Both matches will be televised, with the winners facing each other in the national championship game on Saturday evening. Coach Kevin Hambly has kept the distractions to a minimum all season long, and downplayed the stretch of games during the season that saw them fall from the top spot. Hambly was more concerned with being #1 when the season ended, not in the middle of it. Now, the Illini have their chance to do just that, and are two wins away from accomplishing that feat.

The Fighting Illini men's basketball team has raced out to a 10-0 start to the season, their best beginning since the year after the Final Four year. The latest victories weren't easy ones, but they still count in the win column nonetheless. St. Bonaventure presented a unique challenge for the Illini, and they proceeded to triple team center Meyers Leonard, thus essentially taking him out of the game. The Illini won a hard fought 48-43 contest, one that they had to come from behind in order to win. Then, on Sunday night, the Illini hosted Coppin State, another team that didn't want to go away easy. The Illini prevailed in that one as well, 80-63, and as a result of yet another perfect week, saw them rise in the rankings to #19 in both the AP and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll. Rankings mean nothing at this point of the season, and the Illini have a challenging week ahead as they try to maintain their unbeaten record and Top 25 ranking. The Illini make their annual trek to the United Center on Saturday to play UNLV (4:00 pm CT, Big Ten Network). Then, the Illini will return to the Assembly Hall on Monday evening to face the Big Red of Cornell before making their yearly trek to St. Louis to face their first top 10 team of the season against Missouri in the Busch Braggin' Rights game.

The Fighting Illini women's basketball team had been idle for nearly a week since defeating Illinois State 66-56 in Normal. The Illini will also be playing at the United Center on Saturday afternoon ahead of the men when they take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Jolette Law's team currently has a 4-5 record on the season.

Wanted: Football Coach

I forgot how much fun trying to hire a football coach can be. In the days since Ron Zook was fired as Illini head football coach, there has been much speculation on who his replacement will be. Names have surfaced, rumors have spread, but so far, nobody has emerged as the clear-cut favorite. Sure, there have been names that made sense, but no one has made the commitment and signed on the dotted line yet. First there was Mike Leach, then Kevin Sumlin, and now the focus has shifted to Tim Beckman of Toledo. The only one that truly know what is going on is athletic director Mike Thomas, and he's not saying anything to anyone. A lot of rumors have been flying around as well about Thomas' whereabouts the past week during this search, but who know how credible this information is. One thing is clear: whoever comes into the job will need to build on what Zook started. It is fair to say that Zook left the program much better than he inherited it, but there is still a long way to go in order to make the Illinois program a consistent winner. Does anybody want this job? I begin to wonder as name after name appears to turn down the job for various reasons. Money is definitely a key issue, and I'm not sure that Illinois cannot afford another buyout of a football coach, since the state has multiple issues of their own outside of sports. With the uncertainty of who the new coach will be, it remains to be seen who of the current coaches will be on staff for the upcoming bowl game.

Interim head coach Vic Koenning spoke to the media, as well as Thomas to discuss the Illini's bowl invitation, which was determined on Sunday night. The Illini were selected to play in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco, California on New Year's Eve. Their opponent will be UCLA, who also is in search of a head coach, since Rick Neuheisel was fired after the season. The Bruins are 6-7 on the season, which means that the loser of this bowl game will end the season with a losing record. Koenning really impressed me at the press conference by speaking from the heart instead of sounding like Zook has over the past few years. Koenning stated that if guys get jobs, they need to go to them, especially if they are needed for recruiting. He also expressed that he is looking, and may not even be around to coach the Illini in the bowl if he gets a job elsewhere. So much uncertainty remains, but someone will undoubtedly take the reins if Koenning cannot. One coach has already left the program, that being Paul Petrino, who rejoined his brother Bobby in Arkansas. Petrino will be the offensive coordinator and also coach quarterbacks. Petrino had some interesting comments upon leaving, and some of them could even be translated as a slam on Zook himself. So, who knows what the next three weeks will hold for the Illini football program as they practice for the bowl game. Stay tuned.

The Fighting Illini men's basketball team is coming off a big win over Gonzaga that has launched them into the Top 25 for the first time this season. The Illini took down the Bulldogs 82-75 last Saturday at the Assembly Hall before a national television audience, and looked good doing so. Meyers Leonard definitely has evolved into a formidable post player, and he took full advantage of going up against Gonzaga's big man Robert Sacre. The main question was whether or not the Illini could sustain that momentum coming off the big win into their next game, which was also at home against St. Bonaventure. Based on the way this game went, I would say that the Illini failed the test. The Bonnies were a dangerous team coming in, as the Illini found out early. St. Bonaventure shut down the inside game of the Illini, forcing them to rely on the long range jumper. The Bonnies had a nine point lead with five minutes to play, and the situation looked very bleak for the Illini. Then, Brandon Paul showed up and willed his team to one of the more improbable comebacks in recent memory, resulting in a gutty, 48-43 victory. Paul finished the game with 17 points, including several key shots down the stretch. When nobody else would venture inside the lane, Paul dared to try, and gave the Illini the spark they needed. The win over the Bonnies keeps the Illini in the rankings for at least one more week, and gives them a record of 9-0, their best start to a season since the 2005-06 season. The Illini are in final exam mode right now, but get back into action on Sunday night when they welcome the Coppin State Eagles to the Assembly Hall (7:00 pm CT, ESPNU). Coppin State is 3-4 on the season, but as the football team found out, you don't overlook anyone, especially when you are unbeaten.

Kevin Hambly's Fighting Illini women's volleyball team passed its first postseason test last weekend at Huff Hall, downing both Central Michigan and Marquette 3 games to none. The Illini, who garnered the overall #3 seed in the NCAA tournament, now will head to Gainesville, Florida to play in the regional with Florida, Ohio State and Michigan. The Illini will face the Buckeyes for the third time this season, with the Illini winning both matches during the regular season. The Illini defeated the Buckeyes in straight sets in Columbus, while taking them down in 4 games in Champaign. This is also the third time that the Illini and the Buckeyes have met in the NCAA Tournament, the last time in the first round at Huff Hall back in 1992. The Illini will play at 4:00 pm CT on Friday, with the winner facing the winner of the Michigan-Florida match at 6:00 pm CT on Saturday. The Friday matches will be streamed on espn3.com, with the final being on ESPNU on Saturday evening.

After losing 5 of the their first 8 games of the season, Jolette Law's women's basketball team is on a two-game winning streak, the latest being a 66-56 win over Illinois State in Normal on Wednesday evening. Freshman Ivory Crawford netted a career high 16 points to lead the Illini to the victory. The women have been away from the Assembly Hall for quite a while, and that hiatus will continue, at least for the next couple weeks. The next game for the women takes place next Saturday (December 17), when they battle Texas Tech at the United Center (1:00 PM, CT, BTN). That game is the front end of a men's and women's doubleheader the week before the Christmas holiday.

Changing Of The Guard

The free fall of the Fighting Illini football ultimately resulted in the inevitable happening, and that was the firing of Ron Zook as head football coach. After starting the season 6-0, including narrow wins over Arizona State, Western Michigan, and Northwestern, the Illini have since dropped 6 straight games, the last setback in this streak being a 27-7 loss to last place Minnesota on Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. This was perhaps the final nail in Zook's coffin, as once again the Illini offense looked positively dreadful, leading new athletic director Mike Thomas to make the decision to remove Zook as Illini coach. So, during the Illini basketball game on Sunday against Chicago State (more on that game later), news began circulating throughout the Assembly Hall that Zook had indeed been fired and that Thomas would be addressing the media, thus making it official. Zook himself also made a statement regarding his firing, but wouldn't take any questions from the media in attendance. Thomas had said prior to the firing that he intended to assess the program and Zook's future after the regular season was over, and also that he would examine the "entire body of work", not just this season. Thomas mentioned that a change was necessary to move the program forward, and also said that if he was making a decision about character, then Zook would have had a lifetime contract. But, character doesn't win games or put fans in the seats, so the decision was pretty much a foregone conclusion. Zook compiled a 34-51 record over his 7 seasons in Champaign, including taking the Illini to 2 bowl games. The Illini are still bowl eligible this season as well, so you can actually say that Zook coached the team to 3 bowl games, although he won't be leading the team in this year's game. That honor falls upon defensive coordinator Vic Koenning, who takes over as interim head coach while a replacement for Zook is found. Unlike his predecessor, Thomas plans on using a search committee to find the next coach. Former athletic director Ron Guenther commonly would be a search committee of one, thereby getting "his man" all by himself.

So, where does this leave the football program? As was previously mentioned, attendance is falling as quickly as the Illini's bowl placement. If there is one coach on the current staff that is capable of leading the team through this transition, Koenning is definitely the one for the job. You could argue that Petrino is the better fit, but just look at the offense over the past few weeks and all of a sudden he doesn't look so attractive in leading the team. Earlier in the season when speculation began that Zook might not be retained as coach, many people were wanting Petrino to be the successor, based solely on his name and reputation at Arkansas under older brother Bobby. That scenario doesn't look nearly as good now, and whether or not Koenning remains on the staff when the new coach is hired is anyone's guess right now. After all, he has head coaching experience at Wyoming and with so many jobs currently opening within the past week, would like to find somewhere to possibly coach again as well. Is is assumed that the Illini will be invited to a bowl game, but that is still uncertain where that destination will be. Stay tuned.

Much better news on the men's basketball front, with Bruce Weber's squad capturing the Cancun Challenge title with a 63-59 over in-state rival Illinois State. The Illini followed up that title with an easy win over Chicago State 90-43 on Sunday afternoon at the Assembly Hall. The lopsided win gave Weber a chance to play some of his younger players for considerable minutes, and one freshman in particular, Myke Henry, took full advantage of it. Henry scored 14 points to lead the Illini after coming off of an ankle injury at the start of the season. Such a performance is refreshing to see for this group of players, mainly because they are so young. On Tuesday night, the Illini traveled to Maryland for their first true road game of the season in the Big 10/ACC Challenge. The Illini prevailed in that game 71-62, behind a strong game by senior transfer Sam Maniscalco, who had 24 points. Maniscalco was clutch down the stretch, as he connected for 5 of 8 shots from beyond the arc, as well as made all 7 of his free throws. Brandon Paul also had a good game for a change, scoring 17 points to help lead the Illini to the victory. For the first time since the 2008-09 season, the Illini have started the season 7-0, but have a challenging stretch of games coming up before the start of the new year. The first real test comes this Saturday when Gonzaga pays a visit to the Assembly Hall (2:15 pm CT, ESPN2).

News isn't as encouraging on the women's basketball front, as Jolette Law's squad has endured a rough stretch of games to start their season. The Illini are just 2-5 so far, and dropped both games at the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico, falling to Green Bay 82-62 and Arizona State in a close one, 51-50. The Illini knew this would be a tough hill to climb since Law lost one of her better players to an ACL tear before the season began. With Centrese McGee out, players like Karisma Penn and Adrienne GodBold will need to step up. The women will participate in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge on Thursday when they travel to Clemson, South Carolina to take on the Clemson Tigers at 6:00 pm. The Illini will not return to the Assembly Hall until December 28th. Not that it matters anyway, given the lack of fan support that they get.

Kevin Hambly's Illini spikers were given the opportunity to host first and second round matches in the NCAA volleyball tournament. The Illini will face Central Michigan on Friday night, and the winner of that match will then take on the winner of the other match, which is Marquette and Western Kentucky. The Illini are the overall #3 seed in the tournament, and will feed into the Gainesville, Florida regional, which will be played next weekend on the University of Florida campus. Looking ahead, as I tend to do far too often, the Illini could match up with #2 Nebraska in one of the final four matches, should they get that far.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: The Illini version.

This past weekend was a busy one on the University of Illinois campus. All the major sports were in action, either beginning regular season schedules, continuing seasons, or beginning post-season play. Here, in my own opinion, is a synopsis of the weekend.

First, the good. And there is plenty of good to report from campus, as a couple of the women's sports teams are doing very well in their respective seasons. The volleyball team returned to their winning ways, taking down two ranked teams in the process in Penn State and Ohio State last weekend at Huff Hall. On Friday evening, the Illini defeated the Nittany Lions, becoming the first team to sweep them in the season series in quite some time. Likewise, the Illini beat the Buckeyes on Saturday night to improve their season record to 24-3 overall and 13-3 in the Big Ten. The #7 ranked Illini are now just one game off the lead in the conference race, and will be back on the road this weekend when they travel to East Lansing on Friday night to battle Michigan State and then further up the road to Ann Arbor on Saturday to battle the Michigan Wolverines.

Last Sunday afternoon, the Illini women's soccer team began NCAA tournament play at home and defeated the defending champions Notre Dame 1-0 to advance to the second round of the tournament. In a very blustery wind, Niki Read scored the only goal of the game, and sent the Illini on to victory. The #16th ranked Illini will now travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma to battle #4 Oklahoma State, who is seeded #2 in the region on Friday evening at 5:00 pm. Auburn and Maryland are also in the regional pod, with the winners meeting on Sunday for the right to advance further still in the tournament.

Bruce Weber's Fighting Illini basketball team began the regular season this past Friday evening, and for the week thus far, have won their first two games, although they may not have been as convincing as one might have expected. The Illini beat Loyola-Chicago 67-49, then began the U.S. portion of the Cancun Challenge by taking down SIU-Edwardsville 66-46 on Monday evening at the Assembly Hall. D. J. Richardson tied a career high in points with 20, and Tyler Griffey notched his first double-double of his young Illini career with 10 points and a career high in rebounds with 14. The severely undersized Cougars hung tough with the Illini for a good portion of the game, before their size and athleticism finally wore their guests down. With such a young team this season, Weber has been trying different lineup combinations, but injuries have limited him so far. Among the players that have missed at least one game since the season began have been Sam Maniscalco, Myke Henry, and Devin Langford. Crandall Head, who is currently serving a four game suspension for an off-court incident, is set to return when the Illini face the Bisons of Lipscomb University on Thursday night (8:00 pm, CT BTN) at the Assembly Hall. The game against Lipscomb is another contest in the Cancun Challenge. Then, the Illini will head to Mexico to finish the challenge when they play the Richmond Spiders the week of Thanksgiving.

Even though the Illini women's basketball team has started the season 2-1, I file them in the bad category mainly because of the lack of attention that this program has. After a season opening loss to South Carolina last Friday afternoon, the Illini have bounced back to defeat Cleveland State on the road and Memphis on Tuesday night 62-54. The main issue here are the crowds at Assembly Hall. Often times, you can physically count the bodies in attendance, and the level of play doesn't seem to be helping this matter any. Coach Jolette Law keeps saying that she is going to get things turned around, and every year she is at the helm it doesn't seem to get any better. The Illini now embark on what turns out to be a nine game road trip, since they won't be playing back at the Assembly Hall until they host Alabama A & M on December 28th. The Illini will next be in action on Friday night when they take on the Oregon Ducks in Eugene, then Sunday when they battle the California Bears in Berkeley.

The state of the Illinois football program gets both a bad and an ugly tag, and to differentiate between the two, I will describe them separately. First, for the bad of the equation. The Illini dropped their fourth straight game after winning their first six games to become bowl eligible, and to make matters worse, it came at the hands of the Michigan Wolverines 31-14 as the Illini offense once again didn't fare very well at all. Pressure is mounting for Ron Zook in more ways than one during this losing streak, and it appears that it is finally getting to the coach. On two separate occasions this week, Zook has spoken to the media and the topic about his future as Illinois coach has come up both times. On Monday, a reporter grilled Zook about his future, and was told that this wasn't the time to bring that up. Then, at his weekly gathering with the press on Tuesday, he stated up front that this wasn't about him or about his future, and if anyone wanted to broach the issue with him, then he would be done for the day. Well, the subject was brought up about 18 minutes into the press conference, and that was the end of that. The Illini will face Wisconsin (11:00 am CT, ESPN2) on Saturday in the final home game of the season. It also marks Senior Day for 15 Illini players that will be playing their final home game at Memorial Stadium. The question is, will this be "Senior Day" for Ron Zook as well?

And now, for the ugly. This has been a very bad week for Illinois football, both on and off the field. There have been a couple of incidents that occurred after the game on Saturday that has really marred this program. First of all, senior Trulon Henry was shot in the hand after he returned to a party to get some younger players away from the scene. Henry, who will miss the remainder of the season and possibly the bowl game if the Illini get an invite, was the innocent victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then, to make matters worse, two freshmen wide receivers were arrested in a separate incident earlier on Saturday evening. Kenny Knight and Jordan Frysinger attempted to run from the scene on Green Street, but were apprehended by police before they could get very far. I don't know what this says about the speed of our receivers, but if they cannot outrun the police, then maybe they don't deserve to be on the football team. Still, these two incidents cast a darkened shadow on a program that has fallen on hard times in the last month. This cannot help Ron Zook's quest to stay on as Illinois coach, and only an upset win against Wisconsin and a season ending win at Minnesota might be the only thing that saves him at this point. Just sayin'.

Back To Basics

Now that the Fighting Illini's bye week has come and gone, it is once again time to begin focusing on the stretch run, what has now become a 3 game season, and quite possibly, could determine the fate of Ron Zook. After getting off to a 6-0 start to begin the season, the Illini have fallen back to reality, losing their last 3 games and come off their bye week at 6-3 overall and 2-3 in the Leaders Division of the Big Ten. At Zook's weekly press conference on Tuesday, he talked about the team needing the break. Given the circumstances, this game is a very winnable one, and could go a long way in determining how successful the Illini will be in 2011. The team had such high hopes once they got out to that 6-0 start, but have fallen on some hard times as of late. The Illini will welcome Michigan to Memorial Stadium this Saturday (2:30 pm CT, ABC), and the Wolverines will be coming into Champaign reeling themselves, losing at Iowa 24-16 last Saturday. If you remember how the Illinois-Michigan game went last year, there were a record number of points scored, as the Wolverines defeated the Illini in a basketball score 67-65. Zook doesn't think that there will be nearly that many points scored this year, but feels that it will still be a close game nonetheless. For the Illini, win this game and you might be able to salvage your season. Lose, and it could spiral things downward even further. It's just that simple.

Bruce Weber's Fighting Illini basketball team finished the exhibition portion of their season on Monday night, with a 79-45 win over Quincy University at the Assembly Hall. Junior D. J. Richardson paved the way by scoring 17 points, including 4-6 from beyond the arc. The win over Quincy was a chance for Weber to see some different lineup combinations and get some last minute tweaks done before the season opener on Friday night against Loyola-Chicago (8:00 pm, CT). The game against the Ramblers will not be televised, but will be available on the internet at btn.com. On Wednesday, Weber announced that he has signed one player for the 2012-13 season, a very small class compared to the one that came on this season. The player, Michael Orris, is a point guard, and will back up freshman Tracy Abrams, and could possibly even see the court with Abrams. Orris had originally committed to Creighton, but had second thoughts about his decision and since the Illini had shown interest from the beginning, the family switched and Illinois was the destination.

Jolette Law's Illini women's team won their first and only exhibition game of the season, a 79-52 victory over Maryville on Tuesday night at the Assembly Hall. The Illini were led in scoring by freshman Ivory Crawford with 14 points, while Lydia McCully and Karisma Penn each tallied 13. The Illini will open their season on Friday afternoon at the Assembly Hall when they welcome the Gamecocks of South Carolina (3:30 pm CT). Law announced two signees to the program on Wednesday, Mckenzie Piper, a 6'0 guard from Iowa City, Iowa and 6'3 forward Nia Moore from Bolingbrook, the same high school that freshman Taylor Tuck went to.

The Fighting Illini women's volleyball team got back on the winning track last Saturday evening in Bloomington, Indiana, as they defeated the Hoosiers in 4 sets. Illinois is 22-3 overall and 11-3 in the Big Ten, and will come back to Huff Hall to host a couple of matches this weekend. The #5 Illini will host perennial conference foe Penn State on Friday night, then will welcome Ohio State on Saturday evening. Coach Kevin Hambly announced the signing of two players for the 2012-13 season on Wednesday, those players being Maddie Mayers of Ft. Wayne, Indiana and Alexis Viliunas of LaGrange, Illinois. Viliunas, who has a brother Eddie that is a tight end on the Illini football team, is a setter that should fit into the mold of the team very well.

The Fighting Illini women's soccer team completed the Big Ten Tournament in style, winning the tourney and getting the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as a result. The Illini defeated Ohio State in double overtime on penalty kicks, then knocked off Michigan State 1-0 in the semifinals before beating Penn State 2-1 to capture the championship. Both the semifinal match and the championship game went into overtime as well, adding to the suspense and excitement. As a result of their success, the Illini will host a first round game at the Illini Soccer Complex on Sunday at 1:00 pm CT against Notre Dame. The Illini come into the NCAA Tournament at 16-4-2 overall and finished the Big Ten season at 8-2-1.

Finally, with all of the news that has been breaking in Happy Valley concerning the scandal over the past few days, I would be remiss if I didn't give my views on the situation. The ordeal surrounds the Penn State football program and a former assistant coach who did some horrific things. As a result of all of this, legendary coach of the Nittany Lions Joe Paterno has announced that he will be retiring at season's end, but with everything that is coming out regarding this situation, it appears that he should step down immediately. As one who has talked to Paterno over the past few years, I admit that I have had some admiration for the man who has coached in State College for the past 46 years as the head man. Details are still coming out about the scandal, and the more that is revealed, the less that admiration becomes. It appears that Paterno knew what was going on, but never followed up on his reporting of it. We still don't know who knew what, how many people were involved, or what this will do to the legacy of the long-time coach. What I do know is that this scandal overshadows the tattoo-gate in Columbus, and far surpasses the booster scandal in Miami. I don't know what else I can say about it at this point. Much more will be coming out in the days and weeks to come, but we may never get to the actual bottom of it, or what it will eventually do to the school and its administration.