The Champaign Room • 1st November 2025

Bowl eligible Illini bounce back in win over Rutgers

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — There is no secret it was loud following the Illini’s third loss of the season against Washington. Dropping out of the AP Top 25 poll, fans calling for coaches’ jobs and — worst of all — any hope of sneaking into the College Football Playoff suddenly gone.This does not happen a lot in Champaign. It is the first time since the 2010 and 2011 seasons that the Illini are bowl eligible in back to back years, and only the second time Illinois has accomplished this feat since 1992.In...

The Champaign Room • 9th October 2025

‘A tremendous challenge’: Bielema on playing nation’s top team

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Ohio State has it all. They have a NCAA26 cover athlete as their number one reciever. They have a 5-star quarterback throwing him the ball. They have a defensive coordinator who was a NFL head coach just five years ago. And oh yeah, they have a surplus of money from boosters to make sure their program is going nowhere.“Obviously, Matt Patricia is the defensive coordinator. I never really crossed paths with him at New England,” Bielema said. “I got a lot of respect cor what he b...

The Champaign Room • 21st May 2025

Four-star WR Nasir Rankin stays home, commits to Illinois

Four-star receiver and a consensus top-10 player in the state of Illinois has committed to the Illinois Fighting Illini.
Nasir Rankin chose the Illini over Duke, Nebraska, North Carolina and USC.
Bret Bielema and his coaching staff continue to add to their talented 2026 recruiting class, and build off the momentum of the 2024 season.
Rankin is unique in the fact that he has the ability to play football and basketball at the next level. While holding an offer from the Illini to play football,...

The Champaign Room • 6th April 2025

Pre-draft report: Where will Illinois’ Pat Bryant end up?

The NFL Draft is only three weeks away, and as draft experts continue to publish mock drafts and produce grades of draft-eligible players, fans are left to wonder where their favorite collegiate players will fall.
While many NFL fans will have their eyes on the first round of the draft, it is safe to say fans who wear Illini orange and blue will keep their eyes peeled for Illinois receiver Pat Bryant, in the later rounds of the draft.
However, the question persists: Where will Pat Bryant be pi...

The Champaign Room • 26th March 2025

‘He’s doing everything he can possibly do’: TeRah Edwards awaits NCAA eligibility decision

It is no secret that the NCAA is not the speediest association. Most of the time, it feels as if college athletes and coaches are just waiting for any response from the governing power of college athletics.
That is the situation that Illinois head coach Bret Bielema and his defensive lineman TeRah Edwards find themselves in.
“I literally texted the NCAA, or the people that I can talk to. I asked them on Monday, I asked them again today,” Bielema said. “It is just a work in progress.”
The work...

The Champaign Room • 7th February 2025

From West Africa to Champaign: Ismael Kante’s journey to the Illini

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — West Africa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa and now Champaign.
All of these are stops that linebacker Ismael Kante has made. They have shaped him into the man — and player — he is today.
“My parents sacrificed a lot for me to get to the states,” said Kante. “Every time I accomplish something I just say, ‘Wow, I am really doing this,’ and for my parents, I am making them proud.”
The journey to Champaign has not be an easy one for Kante.
Kante’s journey started in West Africa,...

The Champaign Room • 28th December 2024

Key players to watch on Illinois in Cheez-It Citrus Bowl

A few days out from the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, Illinois has made the trip to Orlando.
In the new-age of star players opting-out of bowl games, the Illini escape relatively unscathed. The only opt-out for the Orange and Blue is receiver Pat Bryant, who expects his name to be called in April at the NFL Draft.
South Carolina is in a similar situation, with only edge rusher Kyle Kennard, who achieved All-American status this season, opting-out of the bowl game.
With a majority of both rosters play...

The Champaign Room • 23rd November 2024

Bryant scores with four seconds left as Illinois stuns Rutgers

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — From a missed game-winning field goal... to a game-winning touchdown... in 10 seconds.
Down 31-30 with 12 seconds left in Piscataway, Illinois’ Ethan Moczulski lined up for the go-ahead 58-yard field goal. Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano called timeout to ice the kicker, so Bret Bielema put his offense back on the field.
It paid off as a 4th-and-13 turned into a huge connection from Luke Altmyer to Pat Bryant as the senior wideout found the endzone and the Illini stunned the...

The Champaign Room • 19th October 2024

Party like it’s 1924: Bowl-eligible Illinois throttles Michigan

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In the 77th sellout in Memorial Stadium history, the Illini came to play.
One-hundred years and one day after Red Grange — whose No. 77 is retired inside Memorial Stadium — put on one of the most dominant performances in college football history (six touchdowns in a 39-14 win over undefeated Michigan), Illinois, in 1920s era throwback uniforms, looked to replicate Grange’s success in 2024.
And replicate they did.
Powered by its rushing attack, No. 22 Illinois defeated the de...