By Woodrow Carroll With a 65-63 victory over Houston in the title game, the Florida Gators laid claim to the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. The title is third for the Gators, who captured back-to-back crowns in 2006 and 2007. For the Houston Cougars, it was another close, but, no...
By Woodrow Carroll You could see it coming as soon as the 2025 Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament field was set. Basically, there were going to be few upsets and surprises along the way. Still, the favorites, and we are talking about the heavy favorites in this case, ended up reaching...
By Woodrow Carroll After one week of action, the 2025 Men’s NCAA Championship Basketball Tournament has been reduced from a grand total of 68 entrants to, what many refer to as, the Sweet 16. And, when you take a good look at the teams still in the running, you will...
By Woodrow Carroll It’s a week that sports fans especially relish. And, we are talking about the first week of the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. A total of 68 teams have earned a spot in this season’s men’s tournament. From the time the first men’s final took place in 1939,...
By Woodrow Carroll For collegiate basketball fans, the regular season has come to an end. Now, it’s on to tournament time. A period that takes a hold of the sporting public in a way that neither the World Series or the Super Bowl can match at times. College basketball crowned...
By Woodrow Carroll Northern Illinois University’s football history dates back to 1894 when the school first fielded a team. Keep in mind that the school did not achieve university status until many years later. For the sake of continuity and clarity, the school will be called Northern Illinois from here...
By Woodrow Carroll There are a number of high schools around the country that as soon as you mention the school’s name there is almost instant recognition. And, very often the recognition is based on the school’s athletic achievements. With that in mind let’s hone in on McClymonds High School...
By Woodrow Carroll With the collegiate basketball season heading into the home stretch, it might be a good time to take a look at some of the contenders for national honors with the state of Illinois in mind. And, we might point out a few pretenders as well as the...
By Woodrow Carroll The names Clyde Tombaugh, Burt Baskin, and Russ Ahearn seem like an odd fit until you learn more about them. So, without further ado, let’s give the readers a bit of information. Tombaugh, Baskin, and Ahearn all had strong ties to Streator, Ill. before going elsewhere to...
By Woodrow Carroll In the past couple of years, there has been unbelievable movement when it comes to conference affiliation. All of a sudden we find the likes of Oregon, among other schools, in the Big Ten Conference. Just think, it was not too many years ago that the Big...
By Woodrow Carroll A quick glance at the four teams left in the hunt for college football’s National Championship quickly tells us we are certainly looking at the game’s blue bloods. Each of the final four teams left in the running, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, and Texas, has...
By Woodrow Carroll The University of Illinois football program won their 10th game of the 2024 season, by defeating South Carolina, 21-17 at the Citrus Bowl, December 31. With it’s 10 victories, the 2024 Illinois team was the fifth in program history and joins the 1902, 1983, 1989, and 2001...
By Woodrow Carroll The ranks of the upper echelon of college football presently numbers 134 programs. Those football programs, in theory, could win a National Championship. Those are the schools found in the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) category. Of course, we all know that in reality only a select handful...
By Woodrow Carroll The University of Illinois has a rich football history going back to 1890. That initial season saw the Fighting Illini finish with a 1-2 record when Illinois split two games with Illinois Wesleyan along with a loss to Purdue. Coaches came and went those early years in...
By Woodrow Carroll There are 134 FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) teams at the present time, seeking gridiron glory. Collegiate glory in the form of a National Championship that went the way of the Michigan Wolverines last season. Twelve regular-season games are the usual number of scheduled contests for the FBS...
By Woodrow Carroll September 7, Northern Illinois shocked Notre Dame with a 16-14 victory, in a game that made national news. At the time, the Fighting Irish were ranked No. 5 in the polls. As you might imagine, Notre Dame took a beating in the polls after that upset loss....
By Woodrow Carroll Northern Illinois’ 42-28 victory at Western Michigan last week certainly won’t be remembered to the extent of their victory over Notre Dame, earlier in the season. Yet, the victory in Kalamazoo was ever so vital to a football program that has floundered since that meeting with the...
By Woodrow Carroll Going into last Saturday’s Minnesota at Illinois’ football game, Illinois head coach, Brett Bielema, had a 10-0 lifetime record against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Seven of those victories were from when Bielema was the Wisconsin coach and the final three were a product of Bielema’s last three...
By Woodrow Carroll The University of Illinois may belong in the Top 25 of the various collegiate football polls. What Oregon proved last Saturday, was that the Illini are not worthy of inclusion in the Top 10, of any of the polls. Oregon defeated visiting Illinois, 38-9, in what was...
By Woodrow Carroll Illinois’ three major college football programs, Illinois, Northwestern and Northern Illinois, all showed a decided lack of offensive punch last Saturday. Combined the three teams scored only 30 points. Fortunately, Illinois had 21 of those points and, along with a stout defense, the Fighting Illini came away...
