NCAA Football Illinois Basketball

Thanks to Brahsome for posting this video from last night's Illinois at Wisconsin game, demonstrating, once again, just how popular ESPN reporter Erin Andrews is among fans of college sports:

You have to listen closely, but you can hear the Wisconsin fans chanting "Erin Andrews" as she does her report. I then find it a little awkward when Brent Musberger and Steve Lavin proceed to talk about her popularity, with Musberger saying he wants to go to the Playboy Mansion with her. I'm not sure if it's appropriate for a man to talk about wanting to go to the Playboy Mansion with a female co-worker young enough to be his daughter.

Do we have another Antonio Gates here? Probably not, but Illinois forward C.J. Jackson did received attention from SEC football powers. Says Illinois football coach Ron Zook:

"We offered him [a football scholarship] when I was at Florida; most of the Southeastern Conference schools offered him one in football.

His football commitment sounds serious, as he will likely switch from a basketball scholarship to a football scholarship in the fall. Additionally, the coaches are sounding as if his basketball contribution is more voluntary than mandatory.

If Jackson makes the football team, he will be on a football scholarship and [Illinois basketball coach Bruce] Weber will have an additional basketball scholarship to offer.

"We wouldn't do anything right now," Weber said when asked about the scholarship that may be available. "C.J. is a great kid and we want him to be happy. He approached us and we told him to go after football, spend some time with them in the weight room and see what happens. He asked if he can come back [to basketball] after the football season. We told him when we get to December, if Coach Zook is OK with it and if everything is going well in the classroom, we'd love to have him back with us."

Stay tuned, but at the minimum it looks like the Illini have quietly added an SEC-level offensive player to their roster.

(Via: FanNation)

In the latest sign that American Indian mascots are on the way out in college athletic programs, the student newspaper at the University of Illinois is reporting that the school will drop its Chief Illiniwek mascot today.
The Daily Illini reports that the school will apparently still be known as the Fighting Illini but will no longer have the Chief, which has danced at halftime of football and basketball games for several decades. This comes a few weeks after the Oglala Sioux Tribe said it found the Chief offensive.

The move comes in reaction to pressure from the president of the state senate, who has threatened to cut off funding for the school if it keeps the Chief. The students who wear the Chief costume have filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the university.