We shoot FTS at 66% as a team - that is going to cost us at some point. By comparison the women's team is shooting 75%. One player ,genesis Bryant, is shooting 97.5% making 35 of 36!!

Perhaps Coach could bring her in to give Danija/ Harris, Hawkins some pointers. I am being a bit facetious but the reality is we need to improve.

Bret Bielema and Josh Whitman were in Tampa today for the signing of the contract to play in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

Remarks from Bielema and from MSU defensive coordinator Zach Arnett.

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James Brown is off to mediocre start for St. Rita. He hasn’t extended his shooting range, which is a concern. Illinois and North Carolina have been the presumed leaders.

Illinois will probably look for a big who can stretch the floor in the Portal. Those types are at a premium, but Illinois is becoming a destination school. Too early to name names.

Very excited about what Morez Johnson is becoming. He’ll be a big time rebounder here. His offense will take a bit more time.

I heard Carlos Harris was just okay at the Chicago Elite Classic. St Louis Vashon really bottled him up.

LOL at saying he isn't very tough and Leach is happy he is leaving. Nearly 800 all purpose yards this year. Not a chump.

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois DB Devon Witherspoon was named to the Walter Camp All-America first team and RB Chase Brown and DL Jer'Zhan Newton were both Walter Camp All-America second team selections, it was announced Thursday on ESPN's College Football Awards Show.

Illinois had three Walter Camp All-Americans for the first time in the award's 133-year history. The Illini's three selections tied for the second-most in the nation, behind only Michigan and Ohio State, which each had four selections.

DB Devon Witherspoon

Walter Camp All-America first team

Witherspoon has been named the Big Ten's Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year, one of three finalists for the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award, and All-Big Ten first team, solidifying himself as one of the top cornerbacks in the nation and one of the best in Illinois history. He leads in the nation in reception percentage against (33.8) and forced incompletions (16), according to PFF. Witherspoon is sixth in the nation in passes defended (17) and allowed fewer than 35 receiving yards in 11 of 12 games this season.

Witherspoon is the first defensive back in Illinois history to be named a Walter Camp All-American.

DL Jer'Zhan Newton

Walter Camp All-America second team
Newton had one of the best seasons by a defensive tackle in Illinois history to earn All-America honors. He leads the nation in QB hits (19) and ranks sixth in QB pressures (55), according to PFF. Newton leads the Illini in sacks (5.5) and is tied for second in the Big Ten in TFLs (13.0) with teammate Keith Randolph, helping the Illini rank No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense (12.2).

Newton is the second defensive tackle in Illinois history to be named a Walter Camp All-American, joining recently inducted College Football Hall of Famer Moe Gardner (1989-90).

RB Chase Brown

Walter Camp All-America second team

The nation's second-leading rusher with 1,643 yards, Brown led the Power-5 in rushing from start to finish during the 2022 regular season. A Doak Walker Award finalist, Brown finished the regular season third in the nation in all-purpose yards (1,883), second in the nation in rushes of 10+ yards (48), and tied for the national lead in 100-yard games (10).

Brown rushed for at least 98 yards in 11 of Illinois' 12 games and has scored 13 total touchdowns (10 rushing, three receiving). He did his best work against some of the nation's best rushing defenses, rushing for more yards than any other opponent against Michigan's No. 3-ranked rush defense (140 yards), Wisconsin's No. 12-ranked rush defense (129 yards), and Minnesota's No. 15-ranked rush defense (180 yards).

Brown is the first Illinois running back to be named a Walter Camp All-American since Jim Grabowski in 1965. He joins an elite group of Illinois running backs to earn the distinction, including Grabowski, J.C. Caroline (1953), John Karras (1951), Red Grange (1923-25), and Bart Macomber (1915).

Illinois' All-Time Walter Camp All-Americans

2022 Devon Witherspoon, DB
2022 Chase Brown, RB (second team)
2022 Jer'Zhan Newton, DL (second team)
2011 Whitney Mercilus, DL
2007 J Leman, LB (second team)
1995 Simeon Rice, LB
1995 Kevin Hardy, LB
1994 Dana Howard, LB
1990 Moe Gardner, DL
1989 Moe Gardner, DL
1985 David Williams, WR
1984 David Williams, WR
1965 Jim Grabowski, HB
1964 Dick Butkus, C
1963 Dick Butkus, C
1959 Bill Burrell, G
1953 J.C. Caroline, HB
1951 John Karras, B
1946 Alex Agase, G
1928 Albert "Butch" Nowack, T
1926 Bernie Shively, G
1925 Red Grange, HB
1924 Red Grange, HB
1923 Red Grange, HB
1920 Charles Carney, E
1915 Bart Macomber, HB
1914 Ralph Chapman, G

The SEC Network according to both FightingIllini.com and MuTigers.com. They are both located in the men's basketball schedule pages.

I know first world problems, but I don't feel like paying extra for one month on Comcast just to get this channel for which I would never watch. ESPNU already costs me extra and it will be more to add SEC and ACC.

I have already used free trial subscriptions for YouTubeTV and Hulu to watch other Illini games on the SEC and ACC networks so I guess I will have to try Fubu.

RIVALS RANKINGS WEEK

Sunday: Who should be No. 1?

Monday: Five-Star Countdown | Meet the new five-stars | Latest recruiting news on five-stars

Tuesday: Rivals250 released | Biggest Risers | Gorney's thoughts | Teams that should be pleased

Wednesday: Offensive position rankings released | Five-stars on flip watch | Three big offensive position rankings debates

Thursday: Defensive position rankings released

Friday: State rankings released

Saturday: Roundtable

Made lots of plans to get myself and 3 other Illini fans to each of the next 2 games. Unfortunately I am on a nasty 10-game in-person losing streak dating back to 2013.

3/15/13 vs Indiana (BTT)
3/12/15 vs Michigan (BTT)
3/3/16 @Maryland
3/6/16 @Penn State
12/27/16 @Maryland
3/9/17 vs Michigan (BTT)
3/7/19 vs Indiana
12/7/19 @Maryland
1/21/22 @Maryland
3/11/22 vs Indiana (BTT)

All of these games have been double-digit blowout losses or one-possession/OT heartbreakers — every one of them agonizing and demoralizing. I can’t imagine that we’ve even covered more than twice.

This year’s team is better than the team we fielded on any of those dates so it’s time for this streak to end.

Maryland is very good but locally there is little buzz and I don’t think the Friday night crowd in December will be that great. They are due for a loss.

Texas is #1 in KenPom but that’s another team that hasn’t faced any real adversity yet. They have a big home game against Creighton and they might not be as pumped to face Illinois in NYC.

I think we have the psychological edge in both matchups and if we’re over the flu bug by Friday we could be very dangerous.

So let’s win one (or two!) for me.

Wondering if we can do a transfer portal thread for just illini targets

Our next game is another Big Ten game, home vs. Penn State. Penn State can really shoot the 3 but otherwise we're going to be favored by about 8.

After that we close out the non-conference with two cupcakes and Missouri. Missouri is good enough to be a threat but we will be substantial favorites. We'll get a better read on them after their home game against Kansas.

We get a little bit of a bye around New Year's weekend. Will be interesting to see if that's a chance to get Luke Goode back for conference season or if he'll need a few more weeks. MLK Day game @Minnesota wouldn't be the worst time to insert him either.

Our game @NW is over winter break so it's easy to imagine an orange takeover of their arena. On paper right now that's the only game we're not favored by 5+ until a big matchup with Indiana at home on January 19th. I assume Krush will be back in full force by then. I think there is tons of opportunity in the schedule between now and the end of January. Lots of chances for us to cut down on turnovers, get Clark and Rogers going, and get Goode back in the lineup. This will be a real chance to see what kind of competitors we have when we're slight favorites and will be the hunted every game with teams that could knock us off. Will we show up consistently every game and win the games we should win on paper? I'm optimistic but we haven't really been in that situation yet with this group.

In theory, this team should be playing its best basketball in February and March. Well, that's when all our remaining tough road games are. We'll be favored in every home game (don't play Purdue at SFC this year.) so let's look at the road schedule, dates, and KenPom ranks of opponents.

Jan 4 @NW (#63) - will it be a road game or will we take over?
Jan 10 @Nebraska (#71) - will Nebraska fans give up on this team by then?
Jan 16 @Minnesota (#150) - Minnesota is awful
Jan 28 @Wisconsin (#39) - circle this one on your calendar, but we will have already seen them at home which should help
Feb 4 @Iowa (#22) - as of right now, this is the next game where we'll be an underdog in Vegas and it's not until February (13 games between now and then)
Feb 14 @Penn State (#36) - do their fans show up on Valentine's Day?
Feb 18 @Indiana (#10) - I know their fans will show up. This will be a battle royale. Early game on a Saturday and this will be incredibly tough to win.
Feb 26 @Ohio State (#20) - Neither team has much home court advantage in this series. tOSU would be a contender but their conference SOS is ridiculously hard.
Mar 5 @Purdue (#5) - This could be for all the marbles. Does Edey wear down by the end of the season? This will be a great prep for postseason play.

15-5 in conference seems like a very reasonable prediction as of this moment. KenPom has us 13-7. Purdue, Indiana, and Maryland look like the other Big Ten Championship contenders on paper. Wisconsin always seems to hang around in the standings so they are a dark horse. Purdue is the obvious favorite right now but they rely so much on Zach Edey. How many minutes can a guy really play at 7'4" 290?

Other than the start time of the @Indiana game, there's nothing about this schedule that I dislike. You always have to play the games and there will be surprises but I'm going to enjoy the ride with this team. The rest of the season looks like it will be a ton of fun.

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Illinois is No. 13 in the initial NET rankings. Texas is No. 12.

Illini are No. 17 in both the AP and coaches polls.

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Im going to the game. Just got 2 tickets for Xmas present. See you in Tampa!! ILL

I see Smith-Njigba is sitting for OSU. Is this the first to sit out a playoff game?

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