I can probably confidently say this. I am probably one of the few writers on this site who actually cares more about Illinois football than basketball. While basketball is probably the better sport in Champaign, football, for all intents and purposes, brings in the most eyeballs, provides paychecks for the athletics department, and frankly, on that first Saturday after move-in, it is the first sport that freshmen see on campus.
So when the schedule gets released and the game times get announced, my ears perk up, my thoughts start racing, and the storylines start to form.
For most of the last decade, Illinois has been stuck playing on BTN on the 11 a.