CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Illinois offensive line was named to the Joe Moore Award semifinalists list for the first time in the award's history, the award's committee announced Tuesday. The Fighting Illini unit is one of nine honored from around the nation and one of only two units from the Big Ten, along with Michigan.

The offensive line has paved the way for the nation's leading rusher, Chase Brown (1,442 rushing yards). Brown had 100+ rushing yards in the team's first nine games this season, becoming the first Big Ten back to do so since Ohio State's Ezekiel Elliott in 2015.

The Illinois O-line has been one of the toughest and most dependable in the nation to date. The line's five core starters have made 49 of 50 starts. Senior RT Alex Palczewski is the most veteran of the group with a Big Ten record 62 career starts, which also ranks second in NCAA history.

Illinois is back in action Saturday against #3 Michigan in Ann Arbor. The game kicks off at 11 a.m. CT on ABC.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.– The John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy's announced its Preseason Top 50 Watch List Tuesday on ESPN's SportsCenter and on ESPN.com. Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for the most prestigious honors in college basketball, the Wooden Award All American Team and Most Outstanding Player Award.

Included in the Wooden Watch List is Fighting Illini senior Terrence Shannon Jr. Shannon is off to a great start as an Illini, averaging 22.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists through three games. He is shooting 53% from the field and better than 81% at the foul line while ranking second nationally with 26 made free throws. Shannon is coming off a career-high 30-point performance in Monday's win over Monmouth.

This is the fourth accolade for Shannon, who previously was named to the Naismith Trophy Watch List, Jerry West Award Watch List, and Preseason All-Big Ten Team.

Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watch List

Max Abmas, Oral Roberts
Posh Alexander, St. John's
Timmy Allen, Texas
Armando Bacot, North Carolina
Matt Bradley, San Diego State
Tyger Campbell, UCLA
Colin Castleton, Florida
Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy
Kendric Davis, Memphis
RJ Davis, North Carolina
Hunter Dickinson, Michigan
Zach Edey, Purdue
Adam Flagler, Baylor
Jayden Gardner, Virginia
Keyonte George, Baylor
DaRon Holmes II, Dayton
Tyrese Hunter, Texas
Harrison Ingram, Stanford
Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana
Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
Dereck LIvely II, Duke
Caleb Love, North Carolina
Hunter Maldonado, Wyoming
Kevin McCullar Jr., Kansas
Darius McGhee, Liberty
Mike Miles Jr., TCU
Brandon Miller, Alabama
Kris Murray, Iowa
Nijel Pack, Miami
Will Richardson, Oregon
Jeremy Roach, Duke
Adama Sanogo, Connecticut
Marcus Sasser, Houston
Baylor Scheierman, Creighton
Terrence Shannon Jr., Illinois
Terquavion Smith, N.C. State
Nick Smith Jr., Arkansas
Julian Strawther, Gonzaga
Drew Timme, Gonzaga
Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky
Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona
Santiago Vescovi, Tennessee
Jordan Walker, UAB
Cason Wallace, Kentucky
Sahvir Wheeler, Kentucky
Dariq Whitehead, Duke
Cam Whitmore, Villanova
Jalen Wilson, Kansas
Isaiah Wong, Miami

The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2023 John R. Wooden Award Men's Player of the Year presented by Wendy's. Players not chosen to the preseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award™ midseason list, late season list, and the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games. The Wooden Award All American Team will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2023 John R. Wooden Award will be presented in Los Angeles in April.

Where does Luke fit when back from surgery?

About 25 minutes to tipoff here at State Farm Center.

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Know that QB will be a big need for this team next year. The simplest answer is getting a transfer same level as Devito(or better). Hopefully due the successful year we can recruit a quality qb.
However, I'm wondering how Kirkland Michaux looks. He has a strong arm and lots of potential. Any info on him?
The other qbs we have are a mute point

Horrific news. One of the victims is WR Lavell Davis Jr., who had a 62-yard catch against Illinois.

I wasn't able to make it to this game. I do plan to be at Wednesday's game vs. McNeese State.


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They went from 2-10 in 2019, C-USA did not want them as a football only school and had to play independent, did not play in 2020 and went 1-11 in 2021 beating only Yale in a narrow margin of victory.

Not sure how good of a coach Jim Mora really is (looks like his total body of work at UCLA was decent). but It shows you what a program can achieve with competent coaching. Some of their wins included Fresno State, Boston College, and #19 Liberty yesterday who went into Arkansas last weekend and beat the Razorbacks.

A school in which most fans only care about basketball.

Couldn’t get stops, and when they did it didn’t count.

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Watched first half of UCLA v. Long Beach State. UCLA had same issues as Illini at start last night. Looked like no game plan, not playing as a team. more out of rhythm than Illini. Looked like Cronin was going to blow an aneurysm yelling. Actually looked like an early practice by an all-star team that has never played together.
Difference being Illini looked like 10 four stars trying to play as a team, UCLA looked like 10 five stars . The athleticism, speed and talent were amazing. When Cronin gets them playing like he wants, they will be top 3. Illini will need to get organized and play cohesive to have a chance.

About 15 minutes to kickoff.

Cold and windy. The wind is in the opposite direction this week, blowing towards the south end zone.

So, Dainja needs to start right?

It's that time of year. If we want to be West champions pretty much have to win today. Despite what most of us thought preseason it's within reach and just takes beating two teams many of us penciled in as potential wins before play started. If we can't do that we're not the best team in the West.

A lot rests on Witherspoon today and he's a pretty solid guy to shoulder it. DeVito has been excellent, in a rather quiet way. But I think he's the other guy who might have to single-handedly be the difference on his side of the ball. Chase should have another solid day but in the RZ I think we'll have to rely on TD.

So much fun in November having something to play for beyond hoping to somehow pull off a 6th win.

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