As I sit here waiting for the 2018 Rose Bowl to kickoff, I am reminded that there was a time where the Illini were once regarded as a team worthy of making one of the most prestigious bowl games on the face of the Earth.
Time has passed since that bowl game, though. Illinois has been through the end of the Ron Zook era and an arguably unjust firing by disgraced athletic director Mike Thomas. Tim Beckman was the fine replacement for Zook and, much like Thomas’ career with the Illini, his tenure went down in flames. He was then replaced by Bill Cubit for a season.