CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois defensive tackle Jer'Zhan Newton was named to the Sporting News All-America First Team, the publication announced Wednesday. It is the eighth first-team honor for Newton, who was also named a First-Team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Associated Press (AP), The Athletic, CBS, PFF, Sports Illustrated, and USA TODAY.

Newton now has three first-team selections among the official NCAA All-America lists: Sporting News, FWAA, and AP. The three official picks clinch Newton a spot on the coveted Consensus All-America Team, which will be officially announced later this week. The final official All-America team, selected by the American Football Coaches Association, is set to be announced Thursday.

Newton will become the second Illini defender to earn Consensus All-American honors in as many years, following DB Devon Witherspoon becoming the program's 21st all-time Consensus selection last season. Illinois last had back-to-back seasons with Consensus All-Americans in 1994 and 1995, when linebackers Dana Howard (1994) and Kevin Hardy (1995) were both honored.

Newton's long list of accolades this season have included Nagurski Trophy finalist, as one of the nation's top-five defensive players, and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. He led Power-5 defensive tackles in quarterback pressures for the second straight season in 2023, according to PFF. His 44 pressures during the regular season led all Big Ten defensive tackles by 15, and he also led Big Ten defensive tackles in sacks with 7.5, which ranked second overall in the conference. Over the last two seasons, Newton totaled 103 quarterback pressures, by far the most in the nation among defensive tackles.

Newton ranked in the top three of nearly every statistical category among defensive tackles this season, including third in sacks, defensive stops, and quarterback hits, plus first in snaps played. He also ranked seventh in the nation in tackles among defensive tackles with 52, which ranked third among Power-5 defensive tackles and first among Big Ten defensive tackles, and led the nation in blocked kicks with four.

Brad Underwood is at Benet Academy Tuesday night watching 2026 wing Gabe Sularski.

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RIVALS RANKINGS WEEK

Sunday: Who should be No. 1 in the 2025 Rivals250?

Monday: Five-Star Countdown | Meet the new five-stars | Podcast

Tuesday: Rivals250 released | Who could earn a fifth star | Gorney's thoughts

Wednesday: Offensive position rankings released

Thursday: Defensive position rankings released

Friday: State rankings released

As expected

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New Rivals250: https://n.rivals.com/prospect_rankings/rivals250/2025

Top 10 risers: https://n.rivals.com/news/rivals-rankings-week-ten-biggest-risers-in-the-rivals250-14

Position by position breakdown: https://n.rivals.com/news/tuesdays-with-gorney-new-2025-rivals250-released-2

Based on the front page post,

24th annual EDGYTIM.com All State Team​

Post your questions here.

Any chance we get him in the portal from Ohio St. Cornerback is a position of need.

Final: Tennessee 86 Illinois 79

Tipoff a t 11 am CT.

My thoughts, as posted in the other thread:

Where this is headed is obviously 100% pay to play.

The third party collectives will likely be integrated into the athletic departments. A GM type of administrator will then release funds to athletes and recruits. How that money is distributed will be based on the priorities set by the leadership team (AD / chancellor / President / BOT). Coaches will become fund raisers as much as anything else. The DIA will need to be reorganized to more mirror a professional team front office. The biggest issue at Illinois, IMO, is whether the board of trustees would have the necessary commitment to winning.

A failure of the conferences and NCAA to properly regulate this system will mean zero competitive balance and probably the end of college athletics as we know it.

In my world, recruiting coverage will be based on the estimated monetary value of each prospect, and how much each school can afford - similar to how MLB is covered during the offseason. $$$$ instead of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In a pay to play system, the schools and conferences will demand legal commitments from the athletes. The current Portal madness would not be sustainable.

Some of the major concerns:

* Title IX compliance will be nearly impossible
* Get ready for an endless parade of lawsuits from athletes who believe they deserve more money.
* Pay to play contributions will crowd out money for maintaining facilities, academic services, athletic scholarships, etc.
* Agents are seeing dollar signs. They will largely control where the top prospects go.
* Non revenue sports will have to beg for money to survive.
* It will be nearly impossible to keep gambling entities on the sidelines.
* Fans will lose interest and the house of cards comes crumbling down.

While we're still in December I like to look at how KenPom ratings have moved since the preseason:

Let's look at the movement in KenPom for each team since the preseason:

Purdue: 1 -> 2 (early conference loss means that they might not run away with it this year)
Wisconsin: 20->12 (surprising surge...they are a contender)
Illinois: 19->14 (looking very strong heading into a tough weekend matchup)
Ohio St: 35->24 (feisty team, might be dangerous)
MSU: 13->29 (clearly overrated in the preseason)
Iowa: 51->48 (several convincing losses to superior teams)
Northwestern: 40->50 (beat Purdue so you have to take them seriously)
Michigan: 45->54 (another unimpressive Michigan team)
Indiana: 50->65 (They are 2-0 in conference...we'll see how that holds up)
Nebraska: 58->66 (exposed by tougher competition lately)
Maryland: 23->74 (*fart noise*)
Rutgers: 59->78 (can't beat a good team)
Minnesota: 112->99 (might get out of the cellar this year!)
Penn State: 85->122 (quickly fading into oblivion)

Redshirt Frosh setter Caroline made BOTH All-SEC Volleyball team AND All-SEC Frosh team !

Mom and Dad and she are C-U.

The Other Orange, Tennessee !