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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The practice field and weight room at Henry Dale and Betty Smith Football Performance Center came alive Thursday afternoon, filled to the brim with football players looking to prove themselves, as their loved ones and NFL scouts watched on. A grand total of 20 Illinois football players chose to come out and […]
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The marathon of the Big Ten regular season is over. For No. 9 Illinois, the reward is a clean slate and a chance to carry momentum into March. Following a gutsy road win over Maryland, head coach Brad Underwood is urging his team to embrace the abruptness of the postseason. The Illini […]
The current odds show Brad Underwood’s hardcourt warriors as a +450 (18%) chance to win the B1G men’s basketball tournament. Michigan is the favorite at -125 to win. (Michigan State is at +625, and Purdue is at +725) The Illini is a +1,100 to +1,800 (5%-9%) to take home the NCAA title. The reasons are […]
After a few early non conference losses, the Illini got off to a hot start during the beginning of conference play. They won 11 of their first 12 conference games, and even won 12 games in a row from late December through early February. The rest of February went much differently unfortunately. Finishing with a […]
With a triple bye confirmed in the Big Ten Tournament, Illinois will play the winner of the Wisconsin/Washington game in its first matchup on Friday. Securing the triple bye is a major advantage in a tournament where surviving four games in four days can quickly wear teams down. Regardless, they’ll still have to go through […]
Now that the college basketball regular season has ended, it’s officially awards season. Three Illini stars—Keaton Wagler, Kylan Boswell, and David Mirkovic—earned All-Big Ten honors for the 2025-26 season. Wagler, one of the premier freshmen in the nation, was named to the First-Team All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Freshman Team. On top of that, he […]
The Illinois Fighting Illini men’s hoop squad just completed a 24-7 regular season. They finished fourth in a top-heavy Big Ten and earned a triple bye in the first 18-team Big Ten Tournament. The season featured all-world performances by true freshman Keaton Wagler, who etched his name in Illini lore. He became one of the […]
This week on ‘Oskee Talk’ Pleas Honeywood and Brandt Dolce join me to share vibes following the end of the regular season (4:58) as well as takeaways from Sunday’s win at Maryland (10:03) and our biggest concerns for the Orange & Blue heading into postseason action (14:29). We also discuss whether it’s too late for […]
Illinois will receive some much-needed rest this week before playing in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday. The conference tournament will be held inside the United Center this season for the first time since 2023. The Illini lost to Penn State in the second round of that tournament and will look for […]
The kid Kansas… is now the Big Ten’s best freshman. After a historic first season in Champaign, Keaton Wagler was honored Tuesday as the league’s Freshman of the Year. The lightly recruited four-star guard has had a dominant campaign for No. 9 Illinois, highlighted by his 46-point outburst in an upset win over Purdue in […]
It’s finally here. When people talk about March Madness, they usually mean the NCAA Tournament. Personally, I love conference tournament time just as much. In the power conferences, you get to see hated rivals go at each other one day after another. Bubble teams making their last push. Low major tournaments tend to be filled […]
We don’t write a ton of football recruiting — or any sport recruiting — content at TCR. There’s just so much going on all the time, and it does take a lot of work. Kudos to those who do it. But when you get a cool story like this starting to form, it’s worth reporting. […]
How to Watch Illinois In Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals Game Time: ~1:30 p.m. Friday TV Channel: BTN Online Streaming: FoxSportsGO Odds: N/A (Will be updated when available) Quick Hits: Illinois Fighting Illini (24-7, 15-5 Big Ten) Head Coach: Brad Underwood (9th season) Last Game: Illinois 78, Maryland 72 Illinois will play: No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 12 Washington […]
And here we go. With the Big Ten’s 20-game regular season gauntlet behind us, it’s finally time for the conference tournament, which starts Tuesday in Chicago. Some teams have a chance to win six games in six days en route to the league’s auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament. Illinois, which clinched a triple-bye with the […]
First Team All-Big Ten Cuscago Ty: Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan *Big Ten Player of the Year Keaton Wagler, Illinois Jeremy Fears, Michigan State Bruce Thornton, Ohio State Braden Smith, Purdue Robby Nardini: Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan * Big Ten Player of the Year Keaton Wagler, Illinois Jeremy Fears, Michigan State Braden Smith, Purdue Pryce Sandfort, Nebraska How […]
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Process over results tends to be how Illinois sets its tone in the early stages of a season. But on the final day of the season, it certainly feels like Illinois will take the results despite a disjointed performance on Sunday afternoon, where the Illini narrowly escaped an inspired Terps program, […]
This time next weekend, we’ll be getting the printers ready to get our hands on some physical brackets on Selection Sunday. But until then, all we have is Bracketology to keep us busy as Illinois preps for the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Fighting Illini have the seventh-best odds to […]
With one regular-season game remaining for each team, the Big Ten Tournament picture is almost set. While Saturday and Sunday’s games could still shuffle a few spots, the bracket will likely look something close to this mock-up I created when the tournament tips off Tuesday at the United Center. Most of the remaining movement will […]
INDIANAPOLIS — Illinois falls to Iowa in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. The Hawkeyes started early, and the Illini, as they’ve done often this season, started slow on Friday. The early jump propelled Iowa to beat Illinois 64-58. Despite the Illini finishing the game on a 15-0 run to end the game, the […]
Brad Underwood’s Fighting Illini are in a basketball purgatory of their own creation. At 23-7, the regular season has simultaneously been an unequivocal success and a head-scratching disappointment. Now, Illinois heads to College Park to close the regular season against the Terrapins. They sit with a likely triple bye in the expanded Big Ten Tournament. […]
After the Illini dismantled the Oregon Ducks 80-54 Tuesday on Senior Night at State Farm Center, emotions were high and Illini nation was celebrating. But after the euphoria, the question becomes: Is Illinois back? Just as their victory over Missouri on Dec. 22 sparked a 12-game winning streak for the Illini, a run that included […]
The past few weeks have been less than stellar for this Illini team. It was a rough month of February for the Illini after such a promising start to conference play. Just a few weeks ago, this team was sitting at the top of the Big Ten with an 11-1 conference record. That quickly changed […]
INDIANAPOLIS — Illinois found a way to survive. In a game that felt messy early and much more tense late, the No. 10 seed Illini held off No. 7 seed Michigan State 71-69 Thursday in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Illinois leaned on a huge first half from Cearah […]
URBANA, Ill. — The Illini are officially set for their first Big Ten series of the season. After a lightning delay cancelled the game against EIU (and a non-conference matchup with Michigan State), Illinois is preparing for some (finally) good weather down in Southern California. The No. 20 USC Trojans have so far gone undefeated, […]
It wasn’t smooth all the way, but the Illini got the job done on Wednesday night against Wisconsin. The 82-70 win over the Badgers sets up an electric rematch with Michigan State on Thursday. The Spartans bested the Illini back in January, despite a late Illinois comeback; the Spartans went on to win 81-75. What […]