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On this page, you can find all of my stories for TCR in one place, in chronological order. The most recent stories are at the top.

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The Champaign Room •

Illinois men’s basketball unranked following 2-0 start

Despite opening the season to a 2-0 start in dominant fashion, Illinois men’s basketball remained unranked in this week’s AP Poll.
The Illini were unranked in the preseason poll but received the most votes among 30 unranked teams with 92 votes. This week, they are still in the 26 spot, receiving the most votes among 27 unranked teams with 144.
In the Coaches Poll, they are ranked 20th, four spots up from their previous spot of 24.
Though these rankings don’t matter too much in the early portion...
The Champaign Room •

Illini brush off slow start, move to 2-0 against SIU Edwardsville

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — While they had some early hurdles to overcome in the process, Illinois moved to 2-0 for the sixth consecutive season, beating SIU Edwardsville 90-58.
Five Illini scored in double digits on Friday as they continued to showcase their new-look offensive approach.
The team’s “Live by the three, die by the three” mentality continued, as 38 of their 63 field goal attempts came from beyond the arc. They sank 15 of them, converting at a 39.5 percent clip.
Typically, three-level scorin...
The Champaign Room •

Riley’s second-half explosion sparks blowout in season opener vs. EIU

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — After shaking off some rust in the early moments, Illinois started off its 2024-25 season with a 112-67 victory over nearby neighbors Eastern Illinois.
What was a 15-point lead at halftime quickly snowballed into a larger one in the second half. Illinois outscored Eastern Illinois 62-32 in the final 20 minutes.
On Monday, 100 of the team’s 112 points were scored either from three, in the paint or from the free throw line.
Twenty-three of the team’s 50 first-half points were sc...
The Champaign Room •

‘Your play adjusts to the way they’re calling it’: Recapping Saturday’s officiating circus

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — There was a lot to be upset about on Saturday’s 25-17 loss to Minnesota, but one group of interest for Illinois head coach Bret Bielema was the zebras.
An early missed holding on linebacker Seth Coleman had Bielema on the hashes. An expired play clock and an assessed (then given back) timeout had him halfway to the numbers. A no-call on his offense’s final drive had his entire sideline and the better part of 58 thousand screaming.
The game was frustrating enough as it was for B...
The Champaign Room •

Questionable clock management strands Illinois in the middle eight

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In a game that has all the makings of a classic Big Ten West game, Illinois capped off a less-than-ideal middle portion of its bout against Minnesota.
This season, Illinois is unbeaten when they’ve won the toss. Every game they’ve lost started with them losing the coin toss before the game.
The Illini entered Saturday’s ‘Middle Eight’ — the last four minutes of the second quarter and the first four of the third — tied 10-3. They knotted it up thanks to a 42-yard touchdown run f...
The Champaign Room •

Why the NFL isn’t the perfect framework for offensive linemen

Sorry, Bears fans. Too soon?
The final play of the Bears-Commanders game, a 52-yard heave from Jayden Daniels to Noah Brown, offered not just anger for some Bears fans, but also a learning moment of sorts for offensive linemen.
Junior tackle Melvin Priestly, who transferred from Grambling State this past offseason, took to X to say that the pass protection on the final play was clean.
“That was not holding, that was not holding,” Priestly said with a smile on Tuesday. “I stand on that, that was...
The Champaign Room •

Luke Altmyer named to Davey O’Brien Award Class of 2024

On Tuesday, it was announced that Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer was named to the Davey O’Brien Award Class of 2024. Altmyer is joined by a number of Big Ten quarterbacks, including Penn State’s Drew Allar, Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, Ohio State’s Will Howard, Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke and Minnesota’s Max Brosmer.
The Davey O’Brien award is given to the best quarterback in the nation, and two of the last three recipients were also awarded the Heisman trophy, given to the best player in the nation....
The Champaign Room •

Illinois drops in AP poll after loss to No. 1 Oregon

Illinois and Minnesota will kick off on Saturday, November 2 at 11 a.m.
The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1, Illinois’ third appearance on the network this year. Alex Faust (play-by-play) and Robert Smith (analyst) called Illinois’ win over then-No.19 Kansas, and Eric Collins and Spencer Tillman called the win over Purdue.
Minnesota is one of five opponents on the Illini’s 2024 schedule that they played in 2023. The last meeting was a 27-26 victory in Minneapolis. The John Paddock game, r...
The Champaign Room •

Injury update after Illini suffer bruising at Oregon

Any loss is bad, but a loss that results in a handful of your players being injured is bad news.
Wide receiver Malik Elzy was banged up, falling to the ground following a huddle, but did return to action in the second half.
Defensive back Tyler Strain suffered what looked to be a left ankle injury and was replaced by Jaheim Clarke. Strain had two tackles in the game, one being solo. He suffered an oblique injury earlier in the season, which caused him to miss the season opener against Eastern I...
The Champaign Room •

‘I’m looking for the next Terrence’: Underwood wants more from team as offseason nears end

With just over a dozen days until his team starts its 2024-25 season, Illinois men’s basketball head coach Brad Underwood has just one preseason exhibition remaining to assess where his team stands before game time. In Sunday’s exhibition game against Ole Miss, he has an opportunity to find the answer to some questions he still has.
“We’re not gonna go into a real in-depth scout at all with Ole Miss,” Underwood said during availability to the media on Thursday. “It’s more gonna be personnel-base...
The Champaign Room •

‘It’s definitely worth it’: Illinois using crowd noise to prepare for No. 1 Oregon

If you were on campus on Tuesday morning, you likely overheard some of the crowd noise that the football team is using to prepare for a loud environment when they travel to play Oregon this Saturday.
The trip to Eugene is the program’s first conference road game with one of the four new former Pac-12 teams, with the team slated to host USC and visit Washington next year.
“I ain’t never been out there that far to the west, but it’s gonna be pretty exciting,” said defensive back Xavier Scott on Tu...
The Champaign Room •

It’s mid-October, and Illinois is bowl eligible

Good Sunday morning, Illini nation.
Your No. 22 Illinois football is bowl-eligible, and not a single snowflake has hit the Champaign ground yet. Under a sunny and 70 degree October sky, the Fighting Illini took down the reigning national champions 21-7, holding Michigan to its lowest point total since being shut out by Notre Dame in 2014.
On Saturday, Illinois fans stormed the field for the second time this season, and for good cause.
It was the program’s first win over Michigan since 2009, and...
The Champaign Room •

Illinois’ Kaden Feagin to miss rest of season with hip injury

Following his team’s 21-7 victory over No. 24 Michigan, head coach Bret Bielema revealed that sophomore running back Kaden Feagin would miss the rest of the season after receiving surgery on an injury sustained in practice two weeks ago.
Last week, Bielema said that he expected Feagin to be “out for a little bit”, but broke the bad news on his team’s leading rusher this season.
“Unfortunately he won’t be with us this year,” Bielema said on Saturday. “I don’t know if he’ll be with us in the sprin...
The Champaign Room •

Fake punt leads to Illinois touchdown, two-score lead vs. Michigan

No. 22 Illinois had played its game to near perfection entering halftime.
Thanks to a pair of David Olano field goals and a Tanner Arkin touchdown grab, they entered the late end of the second quarter with a 13-0 lead over No. 24 Michigan.
The score left just under eight minutes on the game clock, meaning there was more than enough time for the Illini to get the ball back and score after a Michigan Drive.
The Wolverines had themselves a 12-play, 72-yard drive that took six minutes, giving Luk...
The Champaign Room •

Tanner Arkin scores Illinois’ first TD vs. Michigan

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — If you’re somehow not watching the game, No. 22 Illinois is up 13-0 on the No. 24 Michigan Wolverines right now.
Two David Olano field goals from 47 and 32 yards out made it a 6-0 game, but a few drives later, Tanner Arkin did his best Pat Bryant impression, finding the corner of the endzone for his third touchdown grab of the season and Illinois’ first of the season.
Illinois is up 13-0 on CBS right now with the clock dwindling in the first half. Turn on the TV and flip the...
The Champaign Room •

How Illinois is studying the NBA for its pro-ready offense

In basketball, like any other field, you have to learn from the best if you wish to be the best. During Illinois men’s basketball’s on-campus media day last week, The Champaign Room spoke with members of Illinois’ coaching staff to talk NBA offenses, and how Illinois has been following trends at the highest level of basketball.
A few months ago while assessing his offseason additions, Illinois men’s basketball head coach Brad Underwood was excited at the combination of size and shooting that the...
The Champaign Room •

‘I have no idea’: Underwood, Illinois still waiting on Ivisic eligibility

Illinois men’s basketball spent its offseason reloading, picking up as many pieces as it could to keep up the winning pace of what’s been the winningest team in the Big Ten Conference for the last five years.
The team returns just two players who played significant minutes last season in junior Ty Rodgers and sophomore Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn.
Among the pickups for Brad Underwood and his staff are potentially NBA-bound freshmen Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony has Jakucionis...
The Champaign Room •

The Middle Eight: Illinois turned its lead into a should-be rout

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The numbers don’t lie. Every time Illinois has won the coin toss, they’ve gone on to win the football game. Knock on wood.
After winning the toss and again choosing to defer possession to the second half, Bret Bielema & co. had the opportunity to control the middle eight of the game against Purdue, and double up heading into the second half.
Thanks to excellent clock management, playcalling and a what-the-hell-was-that kickoff from Ethan Moczulski gave the Illini a big lead to...
The Champaign Room •

Three moments that nearly lost Illinois an unlosable football game

Day and night. Jekyll and Hyde. Orange and Blue.
Illinois played two halves of football that were polarizing to the nth degree. After what looked to be a rout that would see Illinois cover Vegas’ line of 22.5, the Illini seemingly forgot how to do what they did in the first half.
Whether the program wanted to eat into the Fox Sports 1 broadcast of Washington State and Fresno State’s game or just put on a nail-biter, it should not have been as close as the Illini made it out to be.
Here are thre...
The Champaign Room •

Illinois and Michigan slated for afternoon kickoff

Illinois and Michigan will kick off on October 19 at 2:30 p.m.
The game will be nationally broadcast on CBS, and will be the Memorial Stadium Rededication Game. Illinois players will be dressed in special Red Grange uniforms that feature helmets that look to imitate the leather caps that were worn in Grange’s era.
The Illini will be searching for their first win over the Wolverines since 2009, a 38-13 home victory lead by Juice Williams.
The defending champions are on a downward trajectory, com...
The Champaign Room •

Illinois great Michael Massey falls in first ALDS appearance

After helping his team win in the Wild Card over the Baltimore Orioles, Illinois baseball alum Michael Massey continued his maiden postseason campaign in the MLB against one of baseball’s strongest teams, the New York Yankees.
Massey, in his third season in the show, was drafted by the Royals in the 4th round of the 2019 MLB Draft. With Illinois, he was a Gold Glove winner in 2018 and a three-time All-Big Ten honoree.
The Palos Park, Illinois native was the highest-drafted infielder in Illinois...
The Champaign Room •

‘Tim was awesome’: Underwood praises Anderson after departure from program

At Big Ten Media Days in Rosemont, Illinois, Brad Underwood spoke on former assistant coach Tim Anderson for the first time since it was announced he would step away from the program indefinitely in September.
When asked by a member of the media about how his staff will fill the void that Anderson left, Underwood highlighted the rest of his staff.
“We got Orlando [Antigua] back, and Geoff [Alexander] has been killing it on the recruiting trail,” Underwood said, but acknowledged that Anderson, wh...
The Champaign Room •

‘It’s an absolute gauntlet’: Green loving the new Big Ten

Illini Nation is now entering year three of the Shauna Green experience. With two postseason appearances and one postseason trophy under her belt, Green now looks to build upon the legacy she’s built at Illinois and build towards even greater. TCR’s Zeno Jo was in Rosemont, Illinois for Big Ten Media Days, and spoke with Green and a handful of her Big Ten head coaching colleagues.
This isn’t your parents’ Big Ten conference. This also isn’t the women’s sports landscape that they grew up in, eit...
The Champaign Room •

No. 19 Illinois falls flat in second half against Penn State

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — After a tight, competitive chess match of a first half, No. 19 Illinois couldn’t stay happy in Happy Valley, losing 21-7 to No. 9 Penn State.
It seemed like Saturday wanted Illinois (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) to win. Two missed field goals. A turnover on downs in the Illinois red zone. Illinois, at one point, was on the Penn State (4-0, 1-0) two-yard line with the game tied at seven apiece, but a bad snap and a couple of penalties set kicker David Olano up for a 45-yard try on a day...
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