By Paul M. Banks, President of The Sports Bank.net
Regarding college basketball in the state of Illinois, it is the worst of times. And it’s again the worst of times. We may get zero teams in the NCAA tournament. And it’s all over from the Wisconsin border to the edge of the state that neighbors Kentucky. [...]

Northwestern University is mainly known for its academics.  While their sports program is not very strong, they are in the Big Ten and have actually fielded some decent football teams the last 10-15 years or so (culminating in their amazing upset of undefeated No. 4 ranked Iowa last week).  Now, Northwestern is looking to expand [...]

It looked like another one of those road games for Illinois. They had played so well at home recently and it seemed like they just needed one road win to cement their place near the top of the Big Ten. Last night it was more bricklaying than cementing against Northwestern.
With 5:25 to go, [...]

Is it finally the “next year” Cubs fans are always talking about? The journey starts today.
Bulls blow the game in spectacular fashion against the Heat last night. As my friend NQTC reader Adam pointed out, where was Rose on that last inbounds play? And why was an ice-cold Thabo inbounding the ball?
Illinois comes back in [...]

The Illini will travel to Evanston tonight to take on Northwestern. The Wildcats are 11-2 at home this year and the oddsmakers are predicting a close game.
I would say the Illini are playing their best basketball of the season coming off their beat-down of Purdue last week, but it hasn’t been that kind of [...]

Northwestern stuns Michigan State in East Lansing. Kevin Coble had 31 points, helping end MSU’s 28 game home winning streak.
The winner of the million bucks at the Blackhawks game is revealed; says there was a lot of cursing when he won. Is it still “cursing” if done in a positive way?
Harden [...]

Northwestern falls in OT to Mizzou in the Alamo Bowl. That was a lot closer than Illinois came.
Bulls win; pigs fly. Rose goes for 21 points and 13 assists as Chicago wins in New Jersey for the first time since 2001.
Mangini, Marinelli, and Crennel fired. Must have been Mangini’s idea to [...]

The Big Ten squeaked two teams into BCS games this year, mostly due to how awful the Big East and ACC were, and with an assist to the bowl committee for the Fiesta Bowl screwing over Boise State a bit. The two BCS berths make 19 total appearances by Big Ten teams, more than [...]

Cubs won’t offer salary arbitration to Kerry Wood or Bob Howry. That means neither will return and Cubs fans will miss them. Well, one of them.
Dusty Dvoracek is out for the season with a ruptured right biceps. Uh, ouch.
Weis tells a recruit that he is returning as Notre Dame’s coach. [...]

It’s Illinois at Northwestern Saturday. Lake the Posts gives Juice recipes while Paint the Town Orange talks…basketball?
Glook informed me of this debacle by Arizona the other night. No wonder Lute wanted out.
Well I wasn’t the only one disappointed the Sex Cannon didn’t start Sunday. God was on my [...]

Kyle Orton is optimistic he’ll play in Green Bay this week. Playing through the injury; so Favre-y.
Northwestern will move wide receiver Jeravin Matthews to running back because Omar Conteh is out for the season. Northwestern is averaging a season-ending injury per game.
Is Charlie Weis on the hot seat? If so, [...]

Northwestern running back Tyrell Sutton is out for the season. Big loss for the Wildcats, but Sutton could possibly return for a bowl game.
Rick Sutcliffe could take Brenly’s spot if he takes the job as Brewers manager.
Blackhawks lose 3-2 to the Minnesota Wild. Would have been cooler if it was the [...]

Who’s to blame for the late-game meltdown by the Bears? How about special teams coach Taub?
Magic Johnson does not want to hear about how you think he faked AIDS.
Chi-Ball reports that Mariotti is still in talks with the Tribune to be a print sportswriter. Eww. Whatever, Chi-Ball reports every rumor as news.
A [...]

That would be a ranking. Yeah, a national ranking. For the first time since November of 2005, the Wildcats have moved into the top 25, with a #22 ranking in the coaches’ poll.
Northwestern was idle last weekend, but moved up anyway, setting up a match-up between ranked teams when #19 Michigan State comes [...]

Thanks to Deez Nuts for this list of pitchers with the highest pitch counts on the year. This was from September 11, and apparently C.C. is up to 3471 now. The guys with the most pitches from last year were invariably hurt this year…
The Marcus Bradley Era in Chicago ends quietly. This [...]