Fighting Illini - (Even More) Salad Days - December 2025
Earlier this year, I wrote this post calling early 2025 the "Salad Days" for my Fighting Illini 1 . That was coming off the Citrus Bowl victory over the SEC (and betting favorite) South Carolina Gamecocks on New Year's Day while the men's hoops team was ranked #22 and beat #9 Oregon on the road the next day. Those Salad Days are still here. And, that's a new feeling for this Illini fan. The football team is heading to the Music City Bowl to play the *other orange* team (a worse orange, to be sure) while the hoops team is in the AP Top 15 after beating the SAME TENNESSEE team and are set up to continue winning as they head into conference play. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Illinois Men's Basketball (@illinimbb) After a number of tough years, it feels different. We've swapped spots with Wisconsin in football. And, being ranked #13 feels right. Why? Because when you look at the list of "Blue...