Results tagged “bigten”

Seems we're not the only ones who have trouble finding sports stories newsworthy enough to cover this time of year. With the Bears' season over, the Bulls and Hawks dwelling near the cellar, and the start of spring training still a couple weeks away, these are cold days for Chicago sports fans.

Only the biggest of dreamers gave Illinois a chance of beating the semi-professional USC Trojans in yesterday's 94th annual Rose Bowl. Unfortunately, USC beat the Illini like the proverbial red-headed stepchild 49-17. The academic conclusion to the game also led to some wonderful entendre-laden headlines in the dailies: "Case of California Creamin'", "Too Much Booty Puts Illini on the Defensive", and "Trojans Pull Out All the Stops" are some of our favorites. The loss also provided Jay "the Joke" Mariotti with another opportunity to pen his now-patented "sports in this state really suck" columns, complete with desperate stabs at modern cultural relevance and creating lame-ass nicknames, this time referencing "Knocked Up" and calling Illini head coach Ron Zook "Zooker."

Chicagoist knew there'd be plenty of surprises during Sunday's college football Bowl Championship Series selections, given the losses by the two top-ranked team on Saturday and then general tumult among the top ranked teams all season long. Among the biggest surprises was the Rose Bowl's selection of the Fighting Illini to play against the USC Trojans on New Year's Day. The Illini did knock off Wisconsin when they were ranked fifth, and they handed Ohio...

Nobody ever questioned the determination of Michael Jordan. The guy who didn't make his high school basketball team worked hard came back to win a spot the next year... then went on to a standout college career, won six titles with the Bulls and was named athlete of the century by ESPN.

The NCAA started a practice a few year back that, each year, screws over one unfortunate college basketball team. This year's victims are the Florida A&M Rattlers. While the Niagara Purple Eagles will be in Chicago this week to take on the Kansas Jayhawks at the United Center, FAMU goes home without actually getting to take in the same experiences the remaining 64 schools do — in spite of winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament. They miss out on the camaraderie of being around seven other teams over the course of 4 days. They miss out on playing in front of huge crowds and seeing how they stack up against some of the best teams in the country.

If you're anything like Chicagoist, you spent Sunday evening poring over the brackets for the NCAA Basketball Tournament. And if you're anything like Chicagoist, you'll repeat this ritual daily until your picks must be turned in for your office pool later this week. Sixty-five teams will fight for a trip to the Final Four. All have hopes and dreams, but only four teams will make it to Atlanta, and only one team will cut down...

Chicagoist had the pleasure of attending the Big Ten conference at United Center yesterday, an activity in which we normally don't get to take part. Amongst our colleagues, much was made of the fact that no alcohol is served during the events, not even in a Budweiser-sponsored skybox. We believe one such word to describe the practice was coined as "bullshit." However, the American Medical Association couldn't disagree more. They're sending out a newspaper ad...

The Big Ten Men's Basketball Conference Tournament rolls into town on Thursday for what will be the last one hosted in Chicago until at least 2012. On Thursday, the tournament will kick off its seventh run at the United Center. Our friends in Indianapolis, not satisfied with their Super Bowl trophy earned by beating the Chicago Bears, have also outbid Chicago to host the annual Big Ten tournament from 2008 through 2012. The tournament kicks...

Northwestern lost to Indiana 69-65 last night at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston. Nothing extraordinary, just your typical late-season Big Ten basketball grinder. The Wildcats probably deserved to win, and would have had it not been for Indiana's Rod Wilmont drilling nine out of 13 three-pointers on his way to 31 points, including one nifty bank shot from the top of the key at the end of the first half.

Sometimes Chicagoist feels like we just can't watch any more college football or basketball. Yet even with ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, etc., the vast majority of collegiate athletics fails to appear on-air. Maybe we'd love to change things up and watch that Northwestern vs. Minnesota tennis meet, or that heated Purdue-Indiana volleyball rivalry, or the Big Ten Cross Country Championships. And now we'll be able to, as the Big Ten Conference has announced the launch of a television network, which will be based here in Chicago.

The Big Ten Season wraps up this weekend, and after Saturday's 100th meeting between Norhtwestern and Illinois, one team will have earned its second Big Ten win of the season and moved out of the basement of the Big Ten. The two teams meet on Saturday in Evanston at noon.

You can't help but pull for Northwestern this year, who lost their head coach to a heart attack and named former Wildcats star linebacker Pat Fitzgerald to the job. While considered Walker's heir apparent, Fitzgerald's promotion wasn't supposed to occur for another five years. While few questioned the move, many expected the green Fitzgerald to be in over his head inititally.

College football season kicks off this weekend, and that means that across the city, fans will be flocking to countless bars to watch their favorite teams. Chicago is second to none when it comes to its school pride, as nearly every sports bar and neighborhood tap affiliates itself with some college team -- at least in Lincoln Park and Lakeview. If you're trying to find the hideout for a particular school, keep your eyes peeled...

With the family, friends and Northwestern campus still in mourning over the loss of football coach Randy Walker, The Wildcats stayed within their "family" in naming their new head coach. On Friday, they named Pat Fitzgerald as their new head coach. Formerly Northwestern's linebackers coach, Fitzgerald had been groomed by Walker to eventually take over the program. However, they both thought that wouldn't come for another half-decade or more.

Randy Walker, Northwestern's football coach, died last night of an apparent heart attack. He was just 52. He is survived by his wife Tammy, daughter Abbey, and son Jamie.

Any best-of list is subject to extreme reactions – those of total agreement, as well as complete disapproval. But, in Esquire’s June issue, its list of the Best Bars in the Midwest included a handful from Chicago. And, our reaction? A resounding “Yeah, OK, why not” and a shrug of the shoulders. Certainly, some of the picks seemed more worthy of “best” status than others, but nothing was so off-the-charts wrong that we needed to cry, “Outrage!”

The NCAA Tournament never turns out like we think it will, and this year's tournament had even more unepected twist and turns than a typical year. From the numerous upsets, to all the top seeds missing the Final Four, to George Mason making the Final Four, to the large margins of victory in the the Final Four and Championship games. Last night, Florida defeated UCLA 73-57 to claim the NCAA basketball title. With the conclusion...

We knew a week off would recharge our batteries for this feature, but who knew meeting our word count this week would be as easy as beating a Big Ten team in the NCAA tournament? And we're not even including the poor guy who cut off his own wang. Drumroll please...

The winter sports doldrums from which Chicagoist has suffered since the Super Bowl are almost over. Sunday's announcement of the NCAA Tournament field kick off the beginning of the new sports season, as college basketball leads us into baseball, which leads us back into football. Illinois is represented by three teams in the field of 65. Southern Illinois made the field as an 11th seed after winning the Missouri Valley Conference. Bradley is a...

March Madness is nearly upon us, with the conference tournaments as a little appetizer before the Big Dance begins next week. The Big Ten Tournament opened play Thursday in Indianapolis, with the 6 lowest seeds facing off to see who would advance to the quarterfinals. 9th seed Northwestern is already headed home after losing the opening game to 8th seed Penn St. 60-42. The same Wildcats team that Chicagoist witnessed take Big Ten Champ Ohio...

A sign that Thanksgiving is approaching and winter's not far behind, this week marks the opening of the college basketball season. We'll focus today on the University of Illinois Fighting Illini. Their season kicks off in Champaign tomorrow night when they host South Dakota State. Tomorrow, we'll look at the other Division I schools in the area, including DePaul, Northwestern, UIC and Loyola. Last year's Illini team spent most of the season ranked #1 in...

Chicagoist has long dreamed of quitting our day job to take long, sport-related road trips. Catching a baseball game in every major league ballpark in one summer, seeing a football game at each Big Ten stadium... Sadly, we've pretty much had to live vicariously through others who have made such trips. At least they often share those experiences in wonderful books.

The college football season kicks off this weekend, and Chicagoist can't wait! This is Big Ten country, so we thought we'd take a look at the conference and make our predictions. While the Big Ten is shaping up to be a major football powerhouse this season, the two Illinois schools don't figure to draw much attention. Illinois went 3-8 (1-7 conf.) last year, costing Ron Turner his job. Ron Zook, who lost his job...

Sorry, we're just not a fan of Whole Foods. It's one of those buzz phrases- "Starbucks", "Irish pub", and "Golden Tee" are others- that makes us break out in hives and forces us to crane our heads looking for ballcap-wearing graduates of Big Ten universities. Chicagoist is a frugal lot and has often asked itself whether we're paying for the products Whole Foods sells or the privilege of shopping at Whole Foods. Besides when we can buy fresh produce for a fraction of the cost at Stanley's, Cermak Produce, Egg Store on the South side, farmers markets, or any of the legion of mom-and-pop produce stores across the city, which gives us more money for beer.

Illini guard Dee Brown broke his foot yesterday during a game at the NBA predraft camp being held at the Moody Bible Institute here in Chicago. Brown declared early for the NBA draft, choosing to test the NBA waters after being named both the Big Ten player of the year and the Sporting News' national player of the year. However, due to his 5'11" height and lack of experience as a true point guard, Brown...

While the national media has focused on Illinois Coach Bruce Weber's bittersweet weekend in which he lost his mother and coached the top ranked Illni to the Big Ten tournament title, he's not the only Weber trying to find solace on the court. His brother Dave, coach at suburban Glenbrook North High School saw his Spartans defeat Waukegan 70-58 the same day he buried his mother in Milwaukee.

As any sports fan knows, the biggest story of the weekend was college basketball. The conference tournaments wrapped up Sunday afternoon, leading to the NCAA tournament seedings announcement. As expected, Illinois received a #1 seed on account of their 32-1 record and their winning the Big Ten tourney. But the mood was perhaps more subdued that for most teams in their situation. Friday evening, following Illinois' 68-51 victory over Northwestern, coach Bruce Weber's mother passed...

Once again, the Bulls have been banished from home so that the United Center can host another event. Today, the Big Ten's men's basketball conference tournament tips off at the UC. The opening round slate includes Northwestern vs. Michigan, Iowa vs. Purdue and Ohio St. vs. Penn St. The top 5 seeds have byes, with their first action coming tomorrow. The Trib's Mike Downey shares a few tidbits about this year's tournament. For example, in...

SO CLOSE! Illinois started the season 29-0 and was looking to close out a perfect regular season, but came up just short yesterday

The Big Ten opened its conference schedule last night, and both Illinois teams won their league openers in commanding fashion.