Pregame: Illinois vs Western Illinois, Friday, August 29th, 6:30pm CT, Peacock

Status
Not open for further replies.
#26      
JDL70
IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
WIU is the most likely to be closing within the next 10 years. NIU and SIU are fine and I'd be shocked if they closed anytime soon. EIU has started to recover from the school nearly closing during the Rauner budget crunch era and enrollment has gotten better as the years have gone on.
Click to expand...
I would guess that the Quad Cities branch of WIU will survive as it is the only 4 year public school in that area. The campus in Macomb is probably 50-50. Since there is no other public 4 year institution in West Central Illinois it has a chance though I would guess the majors it offers will be trimmed down. Its Agriculture School has a lot of test plots which have been used for many years. I believe it is the only school to offer a Law Enforcement major as well. I know the University of Illinois has large test plots around the State but none in this area. My thoughts.

I practiced law in Macomb for almost 40 years where I raised my family but moved to New Cannan, Connecticut a little over 6 years ago to be near my daughter and her family. Macomb was a great place to raise a family.
 
#27      
IlliniKat91
JDL70 said:
I would guess that the Quad Cities branch of WIU will survive as it is the only 4 year public school in that area. The campus in Macomb is probably 50-50. Since there is no other public 4 year institution in West Central Illinois it has a chance though I would guess the majors it offers will be trimmed down. Its Agriculture School has a lot of test plots which have been used for many years. I believe it is the only school to offer a Law Enforcement major as well. I know the University of Illinois has large test plots around the State but none in this area. My thoughts.

I practiced law in Macomb for almost 40 years where I raised my family but moved to New Cannan, Connecticut a little over 6 years ago to be near my daughter and her family. Macomb was a great place to raise a family.
Click to expand...
For it's size, WIU is impressive in terms of its criminal justice major. It's rated as top in the state for it, and has a ton of students who attend on the GI Bill.

I will always have a soft spot for Western because they've given a lot of my students who were outright rejected by other 4-year schools a chance to prove themselves and be successful.

That being said, I want to lay a beat down on them at the end of the month.
 
Last edited:
#28      
IlliniFaninHoosierLand
Brosky said:
ISU is also thriving (more or less) but I have no idea how NIL money might be in play. Crowds are stil small, even though they spent a small fortune renovating the east side of the stadium as well as the south end zone.
Click to expand...

I had to chuckle one night last week when the sportscaster on Channel 20 in Springfield was talking about the beginning of EIU's fall practice for the upcoming season and was mentioning their schedule for this year. As part of he mentioned the game against their longtime rival Western Illinois.
 
#32      
Olaf Blab
Close Chicago State and Northeastern Illinois. Beat Western Illinois and it can stay open.
 
#35      
Birdus
mhuml32 said:
Illinois 48
WIU 10

Feagin + Laughery both go for 100+
Altmyer with 125 passing yards at half and sits out second half
Click to expand...
I am guessing more like 58-7. If we are as good as prescribed, this oughta be more like Brett's old Wisconsin teams. We will pound them.
 
#39      
Brosky
Elzy is not, strictly speaking, a "new" receiver, but I'm hoping Altmyer will target him early and often. Let's tap into all that potential and make him an offensive weapon. I'm still surprised he hasn't transferred out; I hope we find out why.
 
#40      
Brosky
Don't know what the score will be and don't really care. Just beat 'em and give a lot of guys PT. That could pay off down the line. Injuries happen in football.
 
#41      
Frank the Tank
Ander1345 said:
Unless you're going to expand UIC to encompass the entire city there's no way these schools should be closed.
Click to expand...

Right - and that wouldn’t be realistic. UIC’s academic standards are significantly higher and the admissions standards have gone up accordingly over past 10-15 years. Their academic standards are now more in line with a lot of the Big Ten (e.g. Iowa, Michigan State) and it’s in the top 100 of the US News rankings now. UIC serves a much different academic profile than Northeastern Illinois or Chicago State. It would be like saying Illinois should absorb Eastern Illinois - that just wouldn’t work because the academic gap is really significant.
 
#42      
Ander1345
Frank the Tank said:
Right - and that wouldn’t be realistic. UIC’s academic standards are significantly higher and the admissions standards have gone up accordingly over past 10-15 years. Their academic standards are now more in line with a lot of the Big Ten (e.g. Iowa, Michigan State) and it’s in the top 100 of the US News rankings now. UIC serves a much different academic profile than Northeastern Illinois or Chicago State. It would be like saying Illinois should absorb Eastern Illinois - that just wouldn’t work because the academic gap is really significant.
Click to expand...
I started off at NEIU and transferred to UIC. NEIU campus is underrated. The facilities are relatively modern, the campus is well kept. It has a low grad rate but it feeds back into its own local community.

Chicago State is a much sadder situation, despite NEIU actually starting as a branch off of it. I actually hope Chicago State finds success in sports at some point. They could really use it.
 
#43      
ptgrd23
Have to sign up for Peacock for 1 game again then cancel :mad:
 
#44      
Curbelo Fanboy
JDL70 said:
I would guess that the Quad Cities branch of WIU will survive as it is the only 4 year public school in that area. The campus in Macomb is probably 50-50. Since there is no other public 4 year institution in West Central Illinois it has a chance though I would guess the majors it offers will be trimmed down. Its Agriculture School has a lot of test plots which have been used for many years. I believe it is the only school to offer a Law Enforcement major as well. I know the University of Illinois has large test plots around the State but none in this area. My thoughts.

I practiced law in Macomb for almost 40 years where I raised my family but moved to New Cannan, Connecticut a little over 6 years ago to be near my daughter and her family. Macomb was a great place to raise a family.
Click to expand...
I attended 2 years there in the 89 to 91 time frame. Place was an island in the middle of nowhere back then. There is a little better 4 lane highway access to the north & to the Quincy area but it is still an isolated place. Nice town though.
And Jackson Street Pub is still a good place to eat!
 
#45      
fuddrules
Fly Illini Fly! said:
Would love to see what Boyd's got...
Click to expand...
I'm going to go on record now - IMO Hampton is the heavy odds on favorite to be the starting QB in 2026. He's got size, solid experience, isn't a stiff and made (overall) good decisions in 2024. Had a 2 to 1 TD/Int ratio under some heavy pressure last year at NIU. You can win with Hampton.

2nd option is portal - If Illinois can find great value, do it, but I'm not sure there are many "value" QB's in the portal.

3rd option is a youngster.

If you go with Hampton, more money is freed up for other positions. He'll have a year under his belt, unlike a new portal addition. BB doesn't require flashy, like a John Stocco or Scott Tolzien. Hampton seems similar.
 
Last edited:
#47      
Bucktown
Ander1345 said:
I started off at NEIU and transferred to UIC. NEIU campus is underrated. The facilities are relatively modern, the campus is well kept. It has a low grad rate but it feeds back into its own local community.

Chicago State is a much sadder situation, despite NEIU actually starting as a branch off of it. I actually hope Chicago State finds success in sports at some point. They could really use it.
Click to expand...
Chicago State is just a place for patronage.
 
#49      
hawiian_mike
Curbelo Fanboy said:
I attended 2 years there in the 89 to 91 time frame. Place was an island in the middle of nowhere back then. There is a little better 4 lane highway access to the north & to the Quincy area but it is still an isolated place. Nice town though.
And Jackson Street Pub is still a good place to eat!
Click to expand...
Attended around the same time. Jackson Street Pub has the best horseshoe! Happy to hear they are still around. Haven't been back to that part of the state in 25 years. Macomb is the crossroads to nowhere.
 
#50      
LockportIllini70
Mr. Tibbs said:
Chicago St started as a modern day HBCU , as the state of Illinois really had none
its a commuter school for teachers / civil servants .

sports have really zero chance to have success there. sad really
Click to expand...
Yet they think it is a good idea to start a D1 football program there!

Which I wonder about because they made their HC announcement a few months ago and there has nothing about the football program since. Does anyone know anything about its status?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back