Recent content by orangem

I agree that if we keep Boyd and Clayton in the fold, perhpas Lopati isn't the best use of our limited money when he likely would not have won the job as a true freshman and then would have left anyways.

If you think the Illini can afford 4.5 mil for Blackwell but can't find 7.5 mil for Wagler -- you are very much mistaken.

Some of us objectively disagree that they were poached, rather than them being told they had to go and assisting them in that search.

Me too -- was so strange he was a .240 3-point shooter for us over two years, now is shooting like he did in H.S. But you can't play a shooting guard who can't shoot....

Tyler Underwood is going to get dad his first Final Four

Illini have been playing better than Purdue for a month -- 3.5 line on Torvik.

If the market is overvaluing mediocre guys with P4 experience vs. the talented hard-working P5s with great PFF grades for better production, we are doing exactly the right thing. Indiana just won a title with those JMU guys.

Bad news for the doomers: Thomison's PFF DL grades were among the best in the country -- 76.2 PFF grade overall, 73.8 run defense grade and 75.3 pass-rush grade. Real question -- do the insiders know why he only played 132 snaps?

In the last month, the best three teams in the country are Illini, Michigan, and Purdue -- with Illini ahead by a clear margin. https://barttorvik.com/?year=2026&sort=&hteam=&t2value=&conlimit=All&state=All&begin=20251214&end=20260501&top=0&revquad=0&quad=5&venue=All&type=All&mingames=0 If...

Mark Cuban

They weren't good enough, so we are intentionally getting guys that are more proven. This is a much safer road than hoping players will make a leap in eight months -- that's not a worthwhile gamble for a team hoping to make the CFP.

Indy, thanks again for all your great info. Seems to me that Morez's trust and faith in the staff was broken when he didn't get the playing time over Ben that he felt -- and most on here agree- Morez deserved for much of the season. On that basis I understand Morez's decision -- what do you...

The PFF grades for the defense are ... pretty good!! The takeaway is that our gameplan did not put them in position to succeed.

Illini at 10-2 will only get in the CFP if OSU game is very competitive. Two blowout losses + no great wins = no playoffs (as it should be).

If you read between the lines, Elzy has already popped, but no one wants to jinx it before it also shows up during the actual games.