Signing Day Eve

Ah, it's everyone's favorite made-up February holiday (yes, even moreso than Valentine's Day). It's football signing day, and Illinois finally has reason to celebrate the day. Tomorrow they are going to lock down a top 20 recruiting class, despite the loss of QB Clint Brewster to his father's Minnesota team. The Zooker still has Arrelious Benn, Martez Wilson, Craig Wilson and a slew of other top shelf recruits that have nowhere to go but up in the standings.

As I've mentioned before, Coach Zook's website will be running a live blog on the event. And just for a bit of overkill, I'll be doing a live blog on the day's events starting bright and early at 7 in the morning. I look forward to any questions you kids end up asking the Zooker.

Team Recruiting Rankings (Rivals.com)

Illini Lose Football Recruit to Gophers (State Journal Register)

Signing Day with the Zooker (The Blogging Illini)

Ron Zook's Homepage (Coach Ron Zook.com)

Generation of Gymnastics

When you think gymnastics, you might think of Kerry Strug flying through the air with broken bones. Maybe you think of the resulting three months of news coverage that ensured you'd never get her nasally voice out of your head. But there's much more to the sport than media darlings like Strug. In the college realm, the first name that should come to mind is Yoshi Hayasaki. Coach Hayasaki has been at the head of Illinois men's gymnastics since 1974 and has led one of the most successful programs at the university. In his 33 year tenure he has coached 75 All-Americans, 39 Big Ten Individual Champions, nine individual national champions and two Olympians. In 1989, he gave the university its first national team championship in 30 years. The DI article goes more in depth to show that Hayasaki's story is much more than numbers. I highly recommend reading through it.

As for the team, the No. 5 Illini fell to No. 4 Ohio State in a dual meet last weekend inside Kenney Gymnasium 214.700 - 211.050. The Orange and Blue, a heavily freshman team, continues to improve with many personal bests set at the meet. And with a coach like Hayasaki, you can't count the Illini out come championship time.

Generation of Gymnastics (Daily Illini)

Men's Gymnastics Posts Season High Team Score; Falls to Ohio St. (Fighting Illini.com)

Dive On In

It's a cold and snowy day in the Champaign-Urbana metro, so let's trade that parka for a bathing suit and talk about the Women's Swim Team. Tomorrow they travel to the oasis that is Minnesota to compete in the Big Ten Tournament. Last year at the tournament, senior Babie Viney became the first Illini to take home a conference championship since 1982, capturing the 100 meter freestyle title. She's looking to repeat this year and help the Illini beat their 9th place finish at last year's championship. The Illini are a very experienced squad, sending eight seniors and 18 overall veteran athletes to the championships.

Illinois will be up against strong competition from many teams in the conference. Michigan is the traditional powerhouse with fourteen titles and a good chance to make this year number fifteen. The Wolverines boast five all-conference swimmers and Swimmer of the Year Kaitlyn Brady. Penn St. is the defending champion and is looking to make a strong showing this year behind the returning 400 Individual Medley Champion Kaitlin O'Brien. Purdue is looking to the diving competition for points with All-American Amanda Miller as the favorite in the platform diving competition.

For another perspective, the Daily Illini has a nice piece today on how the team feels swimming affects their lives and how the popularity of the sport is growing. The article has some great quotes that further prove the positive effect sport has on athletes beyond just physical fitness.

Illini Prepare to Hit Road for Big Ten Championships (Fighting Illini.com)

Big Ten Championships Preview (Big Ten)

Swimmers Explain How They Came to the Sport (Daily Illini)

Your Illini Club Hockey Update

The Illini hockey team got it handed to them over the weekend (much like this Illini player versus Iowa St.), dropping both games 3-2, 3-0 to Ohio and losing their shot at the CSCHL title. Both nights early goals doomed the Illini. Friday night Ohio had two on the board before most people took their seats. With sixteen minutes left in the first period, the scoreboard read 2-0 and Illinois was in trouble. The Illini would pull it back to one by the end of the period, but the game winning goal came on a power play in the second period for Ohio. Saturday night if was more of the same, early goals beat the Illini with the game winner coming just 5:08 into the first period.

The losses drop the Illini into a second place tie with Lindenwood in the CSCHL standings. It will also more than likely lose the Illini their #1 position in the ACHA poll (next poll comes out February 16th). Looking ahead to next weekend, Illinois has its last regular season series with two home games against Robert Morris. It's your last chance to mercilessly mock opposing players on the big pond in Champaign and your last chance to see the Illini play before they head back to Athens, OH for the CSCHL Tourney and the ACHA Nationals.

So be sure to head out to the Armory Ice Arena to get your fix for the next eight months.

CSCHL Standings (CSCHL)

Illini Get Clawed by Bobcats (Illini Hockey)

Illinois 59 Minnesota 49

This picture is good news for Illini fans everywhere. Not only is Jamar Smith showing some fight again, he's showing the healthy ankle to go with it. The microwave might be on his way back, after dropping in 13 on the strength of three 3-pointers in the Illini win. His stroke looked smooth once again, especially as the game progressed. At first it looked as though his shooting woes would continue, but he lit it up in the second half as part of the Illini run that changed a four point halftime lead to a 21 point lead with 10 minutes to go in the game. Rich McBride also contributed 13 on three 3-pointers, including a shot that looked closer to half court than to the three point line.

The first half wasn't the greatest for the Illini, down 20-18 at one point. If Minnesota would have hit their wide open three point attempts, the margin would have been much larger. But that is why Minnesota is at the bottom of the conference in scoring and near the bottom in the standings. Although I have got to give the Gophers credit, they fought back to get it into single digits late in the game and put a little scare in the Illini faithful. Not only that, but this Illini fan had horrible Vietnam-esque flashbacks to the Penn St. game last year.

Illinois now sits at 5-5 in the conference with six more games to play. The bad news is that 4 of those six games are on the road. The good news is that two of those games are Northwestern and Penn St., with the two home games bringing Northwestern (again) and Michigan into town. Doing some of Bruce's math, that would put Illinois into the NCAA tournament with 21 overall wins and 9 conference wins. Now, personally, I think it's going to take a win at either Indiana or Iowa as well as a semifinal appearance in the Big Ten Tournament to get Illinois to the Big Dance.

Then again, Bruce owns an orange blazer and I don't, that should tell you something about credibility.

Illini Gain Ground in Big Ten with Home Victory (Daily Illini)

What to Do in C-U

It's Super Bowl weekend, and most of C-U will be wrapped up in praying that Peyton Manning gets explosive diarrhea prior to gametime. With your spare time, here's the sports round-up around campus:

Friday

Men's Tennis vs. Duke - 6 p.m.

Saturday

Men's Basketball vs. Minnesota - 7 p.m.

Men's Tennis vs. Tennessee - 6 p.m.

Women's Gymnastics vs. Ohio St. - 7 p.m.

Sunday

Women's Tennis vs. Illinois-Chicago - Noon

Men's Wrestling vs. Minnesota - 1 p.m.

Have a good weekend everyone and Go Bears!

Weekend Schedule (FightingIllini.com)

Minnesota at Illinois Pregamearama

Illinois is calling Minnesota the new Penn St. This of course refers to the upset last year in Champaign where Illinois blew a huge lead to the Nittany Lions and lost a game that might have cost them the regular season championship and a top three seed in the NCAA tournament. This year's situation is a little different, as Illinois is struggling just to get to .500 in conference play. But the following stretch could put them on the right side of the bubble for the NCAA tournament. It all starts tomorrow against Minnesota.

The big keys in the game are going to be continuing to go inside and the driving ability of the guards. With Chester Fraizer finding a little bit of range with the mid-range jumper, Illinois gains another dimension that could help them all the way down the stretch and take the pressure off their outside shooters. But the inside game needs to remain excellent in the scoring column and the rebounding column.Last time out against the Gophers, Illinois used offensive rebounding in the first half to open up a huge lead that they were able to hang onto through the entire game.

Minnesota is coming off two straight conference victories against Penn St. and Northwestern. In their three conference wins this season, Minnesota has average 9.3 three pointers per game. Not bad for a team that ranks last in the Big Ten in offense. The Gophers will be attempting to snap a 16 game losing streak to the Illini. The Gophers are definitely playing with a little shot of energy after their two victories and will be dangerous coming into Champaign.

This time around, I think the Illini are ready for a team that comes in looking to knock them off at a critical point of the season. The Illini know that an NIT birth means all road games (NCAA Ruling on the Chief) so they better win the home games while they've got them.

Illinois - 65

Minnesota - 50

Game Time - 7 p.m.
Television - ESPN Full Court

Around the Big Ten

What other schools are saying about this weekend's match-ups in men's hoops:

Purdue at Penn St.

Purdue

From The Exponent - Purdue (3-5 Conference, 14-8 Overall) is still searching for its first road win of the season and they have an excellent chance to get it in State College this weekend against Penn St. The Boilermakers are looking to rebound from their first home loss of the year against Ohio St. on Tuesday. This game will obviously be very different, but still Coach Painter is worried about match-up problems with Penn St.'s Geary Claxton and Jamelle Conley. He wants to make sure his team keeps them off the glass, a problem they had in their last meeting in West Lafayette.

Penn St.

From The Daily Collegian - Penn St. (1-6 Conference, 10-10 Overall) is looking for a win, any win right now. They've lost six straight games to six different opponents, including fellow cellar dweller Minnesota last weekend. The skid has pretty much ruined the Nittany Lions' pre-season goal of making the NCAA tournament. Penn St.'s woes continue on both the defensive and offensive ends, with an average margin of defeat of 13.6 points during the losing streak.

Analysis: Can't defend, can't score, can't win. That's basically the long and the short of it.

Purdue - 78

Penn St. - 60

Game Time - 11:07 CT
Television - ESPN Full Court

Northwestern at Wisconsin

Northwestern

From The Daily Northwestern - Northwestern (1-7 Conference, 11-10 Overall) isn't looking good coming into this game. This is a young Northwestern squad that played them tough at home, but on the road it's going to be a different story. The Wildcats have not won a road game against a ranked opponent since January 6, 1999.

From The Badger Herald - Wisconsin (7-1 Conference, 21-2 Overall) is staying positive after their first Big Ten loss of the year. They're already planning their next 17 game winning streak (that would be 8 regular season, 3 Big Ten Tournament, 6 NCAA games) and I would have to agree they are poised to make that run. They struggled against the Wildcats zone early in Evanston, but were able to figure it out to win that game.

Analysis - The Badgers are going to handle the zone at home against the young Wildcats.

Penn St. - 48

Wisconsin - 70

Game Time - 1 p.m. CT
Television - ESPN Full Court

Indiana at Iowa

Indiana

From The Indiana Daily Student - Indiana (6-2 Conference, 16-5 Overall) has really put it together as of late. Except for a cold shooting night in Champaign, they've been red hot in nearly all facets of the game. One weakness is a possible over-reliance on the three as well as defensive breakdowns. But this is a team that doesn't give up and a coach that is known for his enthusiasm (on the court and with a cell phone).

Iowa

From The Daily Iowan - The Hawkeyes ( 4-4 Conference, 12-10 Overall) are coming off a big comeback win on the road at Michigan. Adam Huluska remains the league's leading scorer and is looking to lead his team to a huge conference victory at home. Iowa currently sits in a tie for fourth place in conference and is looking to prove itself as that possible fourth team to get a bid from the Big Ten.

Analysis: Iowa needs this victory on its home court, and quite honestly, the rampant homerism of the Indiana student paper annoys me. I'm looking for Iowa in an upset here.

Indiana - 62

Iowa - 67

Game Time - 1:05 CT
Television - ESPN

Ohio St. at Michigan St.

Ohio St.

From The Latern - Ohio St. (7-1 Conference, 19-3 Overall) became the first team to win at Purdue this season on Tuesday and with the Wisconsin loss found themselves in a tie atop the Big Ten standings. Now the Buckeyes get ready for the Spartans for the second weekend in a row. This time around they're hoping for the same ending result with a different second half. The Buckeyes watched a huge second half lead dwindle to two in the final seconds in Columbus, with Drew Neitzel going off to outscore the Buckeyes in the second half. Defense will be the key for Ohio St., as they are 1-3 this season when their opponent scores more than 70.

Michigan St.

From The State News - The Spartans (4-4 Conference, 17-6 Overall) are ready for some revenge at home against the Buckeyes. The team will be focusing on the boards where they hold a + 9.5 rebound margin on the season (third in the nation). The team is going to have to help out Drew Neitzel, who tried to do it on his own in the last four minutes of the game in Champaign. Look for Goran Suton and/or Marquise Gray to step up in the game for the Spartans if they are going to win.

Analysis - Oden is going to be dominate down-low, that's pretty much a given. It's all going to come down to the perimeter play of the two teams. I think Ohio St. will hold the edge there and pull it out.

Ohio St. - 76

Michigan St. - 63

Game Time - 3 CT
Television - CBS

Big Ten Scoreboard (Sports Illustrated)

Signing Day with the Zooker!

Yes, I stole this picture from Deadspin, but it's so incredible I just needed it to be at the top of this post. Aside from some barefoot water skiing prowess, the Zooker can recruit. And so with signing day just a week away, the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced that CoachRonZook.com will host a live blog of the day's events. Yes, I'm completely serious.

Here are the event plans:

7 a.m. -- "War Room" Blog (all day, leading up to press conference)
10 a.m. -- Live online chat with Illini Recruiting Coordinator Reggie Mitchell
11 a.m. -- Live video interviews with assistant coaches
Noon -- Live online chat with Illinois Head Coach Ron Zook
1 p.m. -- Live video interviews with assistant coaches
2 p.m. -- Live online chat with quarterback Juice Williams
3:00 p.m. -- Live radio show with assistant coaches and current players
3:30 p.m. -- Press Conference with Ron Zook (live audio and video available); biographies, photos and video highlights of Class of 2007

Some suggested questions include:

10 a.m. - Are you guys actually going to remember to cover on passing downs or is the defensive strategy still going to be "please God let them run the ball"?

Noon - How do I go about being a non-uptight white guy?

2 p.m. - Is Rex Grossman your hero and do you plan on being the next Sex Cannon?

DIA Announces Second Annual Signing Day Coverage (FighitngIllini.com)

Ron Zook, Water Skiing (Deadspin)

Your Illini Club Hockey Update

In a typical weekend romp, Illinois beat the DePaul Blue Demons 7-1 and 9-0. Honestly, neither one of these games were ever close. I was there for Friday night's game, and it looked like the Illini were picking on a local high school team. Actually, a high school team might have done better than the Division II Blue Demons. Between the two games, the Illini managed to put 112 shots on goal to Depaul's 37. This was all just a tune-up for the Illini, as this weekend they travel to Athens, Ohio for a weekend series with the Ohio Bobcats. This weekend can decide the CSCHL champion. The scenario breaks down like this:

If Illinois sweeps the weekend, they're the champions.

If Ohio sweeps the weekend, they take home the championship.

If the two games split, Illinois needs to win one at home next weekend against Robert Morris College

Illinois has not won at Ohio since the Bobcats joined the CSCHL in 1993. The Illini roster will be at near full strength as the four members playing for the United States in the Winter World University Games returned this week after leading the team to eighth place. Unfortunately, Drew Heredia will not be available for Illinois, as he broke his ankle during the games and is out indefinitely.

One weekend to decide the championship, not a bad way to do it.

Illini Exorcise Blue Demons (Illini Hockey)

Illini Headed to Tangle with Bobcats (Illini Hockey)

Four Illini, Team USA Return from Tournament (Daily Illini)