bigruss

Honestly don't see Underwood working out, he's digging too much of a hole. We have one of our biggest recruits on campus and we lose to FAU. Doubt Whitman makes a move after 2 years but he should at this point. Just inexcusable what is happening here.

Mannn I hate the SSO tech at my company, went with it because it was already included (Azure) but it feels like they are always playing catchup to you guys and others. Wish I was here when they decided, the amount of time we spend integrating apps and turning on MFA is ridiculous.

Ha I know the guy who is the product manager for the Starbucks reward program. He's trying to build it out more, always corporate stuff in the way.

Oof, this game hurts. Former Illini signed players are killing us. I want Underwood to work out but man, this year is ROUGH.

Agreed with pretty much all of that. Sounds like Lovie is about to get some optimism on the recruiting front. I've truly been stunned by how bad Underwood has been. I don't get how so many people are just accepting this season as lost. He put himself in that position!

Nah, Prohm has that program rolling again.

Meant fired after year 3, I don't think Whitman fires him after year 2 unless we don't win another game and have a scandal or something crazy like that. Buyout: Termination Date Liquidated Damages 03/18/2017 - 04/30/2018 $8,500,000 05/1/2018 - 04/30/2019 $7,400,000 05/1/2019 - 04/30/2020 $6,300,000 05/1/2020 - 04/30/2021 $3,000,000 05/1/2021 - 04/30/2022 $2,000,000 05/1/2022 - 04/30/2023 $1,000,000

If Illinois doesn't win 10 games, is Underwood on the hotseat for next year?

So no different than last year, sigh...

Gives me hope that Underwood can go get the underrated kids, need more of that with our recruiting misses. And I think last night is only a moral victory if you win today, no one will remember last night if we lose again.

Who said failure? I said he underperformed...

14 wins last year, Underwood was brought in to make an immediate difference and that team blew. He increased by 10ish wins at OSU, he decreased wins at Illinois. If that isn’t underperforming than our standards really suck. Talk about talent, talk about culture, whatever, Underwood was hired to win and win right away. He wasn’t hired because he’s a proven rebuilder or he’ll even a builder of programs. He was hired on the resume of immediate success, and he didn’t do that. Now he has to prove that he can build a program, again something he’s never done.

Way to early to tell if it’s different, for all we know Georgetown is a terrible big east team and this was just us competing against a bad team. Again, I’ll be convinced it’s dofferent when the results actually change.

No team will ever own Chicago either, we absolutely should do better with Central/southern Illinois kids in both sports. We lost like 4-5 lineman over the last 2 years to other P5 schools from the central illinois area, all with Illinois offers. Just terrible recruiting there. In terms of basketball, I have no problem going out of state for talent. Heck it seems our reputation plays better out of state for both programs anyways. But the model of Wisconsin and Michigan St is what I was more referring to, the coaches found a way to build programs and then the schools invested to keep those programs at those levels. They funded new arenas, paid the coaches, built practice facilities, etc. Illinois under Geunther did shit to stay current with facilities for players, Mike Thomas got the ball rolling at least and Whitman is taking it a step further. But facilities don't mean jack if you aren't hiring the right coaches.

Is it? Sure we had some decent success with the offense but Georgetown is a low tier P5 team at this point. They played extremely young as well, and yet they flourished at the end of the game, on the road, in a hostile environment. Yet again this team can't close, I'm glad to hear the team isn't accepting that in the locker room after the game but until this team learns to close I don't think things have really "changed". Whitney would be a program changer, but alas that ain't happening.

Illinois has played dirty in recruiting, to think otherwise is being naive. They've got outplayed in that area many times. Our admissions are harder than most P5 schools, but they've made exceptions for the right kind of players as well. Whitman is starting to change that, he won't be able to change everything with admissions but they've gotten in guys like Verdis Brown when in the past they couldn't. What it comes down to it is really just bad hires and not supporting the programs financially (in the past). Whitman has given the money to the programs (close to the top of staffing dollars for both bball and football) and is upgrading facilities (sorely needed) so the last piece of the puzzle is hiring the right coaches. So far, both Lovie and Underwood have underperformed. They have paths to success but I think fans expected both to coach better and not have such extreme rebuilds. At this point, fans or non-fans expecting Illinois to be a powerhouse year in and year out is not fair, the rest of the Big Ten has gotten better while we've gotten worse. We should eventually be able to get back there and we have the fanbase and resources to sustain it similar to Wisconsin/Michigan State, but we are so far away from that brand again that we need to adjust expectations.

If you and hundreds of other students don't take tennis then they won't offer it. I'm guessing those courses are super cheap to offer, the facilities are already there and they probably pay the teacher MUCH less than a real professor. And why be forced to take some science courses? Because it's part of a well-rounded education. You would never touch a bio book if they didn't "make" you pick it up, but having that base knowledge will help you understand the world a bit more. Yea you may not be researching biology as a career, but maybe you work for a pharma company in the future and you now have a slightly better understanding of what your company is doing because of that. Not having a direct link to your career doesn't mean there isn't immense value in that education. I work for a mutual company now in IT security, learning psychology has paid off in dividends. Learning about weather in atmospheric science has improved my ability to understanding how the world's environments work a bit better. Taking a class on German Fairy Tales taught me how cultures evolved, taught me to be a better writer. Guess what a big part of my job is now? Understanding other cultures and how things have evolved over time and communication. Not understanding the world a bit more is antiquated.

I don't know about y'all but since working my brain power has become so focused that I crave learning other things and I'm more thankful for my college electives because it expanded my brain, perspective and learning even when I didn't want it to. And if you take Tennis then you can only blame yourself for not studying something else with more value. I get we all liked easy courses in college (I am definitely included in that) but blaming college for offering Tennis and then shitting on it when you decided to take it is ridiculous. Own some responsibility for your actions.

I've thought about this more, not really in that style but I've wanted to become more financially independent from work. I switched jobs about 15 months ago and ended up working for a boss that I couldn't stand and I was so nervous going into work everyday that I felt like I was breaking down. Fortunately he left and my career is way beyond where I thought it would be at this point, but I realized in that time that I never want to feel like that again. I want to save better but also get into investments that could supplement my income (or lack thereof) at some point. I've rented out my condo in Chicago after moving to Milwaukee and I'm contemplating keeping that and paying it off and pocketing the monthly income. Not sure if that makes sense financially yet compared to selling. I would love to be able to take a job that is less stressful and something I want to do at some point and be ok with supplemental income.

Illinois dismisses Freshman All American Safety Bennett Williams, having a hard time keeping talented kids on the field lately.

I really like Guerrier more than Shannon, TSJ is a boom or bust type player IMO. Hoping we hit it big this weekend, build some momentum and hope Oscar can choose the school he wants to go to.

I really think we are overselling out backcourt, I think it's good but it really shouldn't be in top in the nation type conversations. Next year? Maybe depending on how some of these guys prove themselves.

Eh don't think it's too early, Underwood has zero evidence of being able to build a program. He sure could win with other coaches' recruits. I'm not saying it's a done deal he won't succeed at Illinois but if we have another 14 win type season that is a TOUGH sell to recruits. I personally think people are way to high on this class as well, I love Ayo and Jones and think we got some sleepers but people are acting like some 3 star freshmen bigs are going to make an impact in the Big Ten. I just don't see that happening. Again, if Underwood can reach the tournament with this squad than I'm a firm believer that he can coach at such a high level it will overcome the recruiting flaws, but I have doubts at the moment.

I want to believe in Underwood but not sure he can build a program. This class is so important to the programs future, the staff can’t screw it up and it’s gone about as poorly as it could. If he coaches this team to the tournament this year then I’ll be a firm believer but if he misses it then the recruiting momentum will be crushed.

Rabbit did you look at the Ford CMAX? Probably can get good deals for those models now.