By Paul M. Banks Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net,
The year 2008 truly solidified my theory: to be a fan of either the Chicago Cubs and University of Illinois football means you know a lot about soul-crushing defeats. You know more than losing, you know exactly what it’s like to have any [...]

By Paul M. Banks Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net
INDIANAPOLIS- Ohio State’s Evan Turner is likely going to sweep the national college basketball player of the year awards. He truly is royally smooth on the court. On Friday, in the Big Ten quarterfinals, his 40-foot buzzer beater to eliminate Michigan was the lead national story in [...]

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. [...]

Champaign’s finest sports coverage brought to you by Joe Kutsunis from Hail to the Orange:
Its not every day you can say the Illini are leading in the Big Ten title race, (unless of course you are talking about the three titles the Illini earned early on this decade) but that’s exactly where our hard fought scrappers [...]

Sure some of this top ten list are positive things.  Obama is from Illinois, and of course the White Sox winning it all in 2005 was fun (for half of Chicago at least).  The rest? Meh, not so much.  This list was released by the AP titled “Top Stories of the Decade for Illinois”.  Enjoy:

Obama’s [...]

It only took us 11 years, but the Big Ten has finally broken through in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.  Finally a reprieve from articles and posts about how the Big Ten is so overrated after 6-to-5 losses in the Challenge, despite consistently impressive post-season performances.  Let the ubridled hype commence! 
Alright maybe not, but it still [...]

Ron Zook called QB Eddie McGee into his office of intensity on Sunday night and told the junior that he would be starting for the Illini Saturday against Michigan State.  The move will end a streak of 38 straight starts for Juice Williams and is something Zook hopes will spark the Illini after their 1-3 [...]

In a huge blow to the Illini defense, junior linebacker Martez Wilson will miss the remainder of the season with a neck injury.  A five-star prospect in 2007, Wilson played for the Illini right away and many expected him to break out in a major way this season. 
The injury, a herniated disk requiring surgery, has to [...]

What an awful start for an Illinois team I thought would be near the top of the conference.  It’s a familiar formula in the Big Ten: young players show promise, struggle, then put it together in their senior season.  I thought Juice would be ready to lead his team to a great season and perhaps [...]

So, the Big Ten previews didn’t finish up due to getting slammed at work.  Therefore, I bring you the preseason Big Ten Power Rankings.
1) Ohio State- Hard to put the Buckeyes anywhere else on the list.  Terrelle Pryor was the most efficient passer in the conference last year and OSU is never lacking talent.  For [...]

For two days the Big Ten football coaches and three players from each team gather in Chicago for Big Ten Media Days.  From what I could tell, this year’s event was pretty bland (are they ever exciting?), but I guess that’s what you get when Lane Kiffin doesn’t coach in your conference.  
So what did we [...]

The Nationals are having a rough season to say the least.  Even the tarp seems to have the upper hand on them.  [Zoner]
Here’s the video of the scary moment in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals when Adam Burish got sliced in the neck with Ben Eager’s skate.  [Luol's Dong]
The Wings and the Hawks [...]

For three weeks every year the NCAA Tournament dominates the sports world.  This year the final game had to share the spotlight with baseball’s opening day, but for the most part it was all we cared about.  Taking a look back at some of the games, here are some tournament thoughts.

The Big Ten did, well, [...]

The Illini lost.  Bad.  The final score didn’t tell the story about how bad they looked. [ESPN]
Some interesting statistics about certain Bulls players that you might not have known. [Pippen Ain't Easy]
Lou Piniella names Marshall the 5th starter.  No surprise there. [Tribune]
Does TrueHoop suck?  Well whether you think so or not, Henry Abbott is addressing [...]

Other than the fact that we know Western Kentucky has a sweet mascot, we really don’t know much else.  We also know they won a couple games in the Big Dance last year and bring back a hand-full of those players.  But what are they about this year and how do they stack up against [...]