Pregame: Illinois vs South Carolina, Tuesday, December 31st, 2:00pm CT, ABC
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ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Shows that the Big Ten hasn't been on ESPN in awhile.
Mark Jones is one of their regular college football and NBA guys.
Apparently not, according to Bret.
All the more reason to come to Illinois.
yea , i’m shocked .
that makes very little sense to me
Great wrinkle in that Bret interview is the Whitman also approved extra $ to retain staff to. Man there are so many good things happening for this program right now. Thank you Bret and Josh for making us relevant and competent!
The bottom half of a roster is basically in flux every off season. Bret is a relationship guy, he takes care of his guys.
A few extra plays of game tape and a chance to contribute a little more goes a long way. Bret's not soft or overly sentimental, he just knows what will pay off in the long run. It's not gonna hurt us.
THIS cannot be stressed enough IMHO.. Consistency of staff is a hugely important piece that we haven't had at Illinois for decades... Thanks again Josh and Bret...
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
My guess is to keep positive relations with the players, which is seen by future recruits. There is also the chance (albeit small) that a player could enter the portal but then return to the initial school. I can see from a coaches point of view why you would not want players entering portal to play for the team, but the timing of the portal makes all of this the Wild West.
I truly believe that most of the players entering the portal want to stay committed to their team for the entire season, but if they were planning to look for other opportunities/more playing time elsewhere, they have no choice but to enter the portal before Dec 28 (which is before the bowl game). The current timing of the portal penalizes these players who are making a move in their best interest, but who still want to make an impact on the program that they dedicated much effort for the entire season. I am actually happy that Coach B is possibly still giving these players opportunities to contribute to the team in the bowl game.
Check your email - I got a confirmation late this afternoon
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I'm curious what our fan turnout will be like. On one hand, South Carolina is both closer and has been a lot better in recent years ... so I would expect them to have a crowd advantage. On that same note, Illini fans just have not learned the "habit" of planning a little winter vacation around going to a bowl game like many other fan bases. On the flip side, though, we have traveled shockingly well to the bowls we have actually made, haha. In literal road games vs. LSU in New Orleans (2001-02 Sugar Bowl) and USC in Pasadena (2007-08 Rose Bowl), we had relatively huge turnouts.
For anyone who attended the ReliaQuest Bowl in 2022-23, how was our turnout? It would be really nice to get a good group of Illini fans there to support this team!
For anyone who attended the ReliaQuest Bowl in 2022-23, how was our turnout? It would be really nice to get a good group of Illini fans there to support this team!
About 10 years ago, I went to Omaha to see my brother during the College World Series. Walking around the area, along with the fans of schools that made it, there was a not insignificant number of folks wearing LSU gear. I asked my brother what gives, because their team wasn’t there. He replied that they made it to Omaha so often that a big group of fans just had standing reservations to go every year.
blackdog
- Champaign
We outnumbered Ole Miss fans 3-1 at ReliaQuest. Illini fans travel so I don't have any worries about being well represented.
MoCoMdIllini
- Montgomery County, Maryland
Probably by 1000 to 1 or better since we played Mississippi State.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Haha, I understood what he/she meant and wasn't going to correct this, but this made me LOL.
EDIT: I think I actually found a picture of that crowd ... great showing once again by Illini fans!
blackdog
- Champaign
Look I was having a good time enjoying the sun and pregame activities so the memory might not be quite as sharp as it could be
Their best player on defense is not playing. That will help.
MoCoMdIllini
- Montgomery County, Maryland
Also those dang cowbells.Look I was having a good time enjoying the sun and pregame activities so the memory might not be quite as sharp as it could be
This is from the Ticketmaster site. On the surface it looks like we have a bigger turnout than Carolina, at least in looking at the upper deck. Not by a lot but at least we appear to be hanging with them. That said, there is every chance that Carolina fans are buying tickets on the B1G side. Guess we'll see how much orange is in there. Will be in section P41.
The Reliaquest turnout was amazing. And, throughout the week leading up, I didn’t even see a Miss St fan. I almost forgot we were at an away location until the game.
3-1 is probably pretty accurate.
3-1 is probably pretty accurate.
skamin7
- Wellington, FL
The turn out was actually pretty good for that game. I would say the crowd was probably 40% Illini fans. Remember that the west coast of Florida still does have a lot of Illinois transplants there.
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