From The Stands - SIU 2026

I'm fine with what I saw. I'm a little frustrated with the credential policies and the application of "that person has a lanyard so he might not be a fan" rules (as you'll hear, the first guy says I'm fine to record where I'm at, the second woman... does not) but I'm fine with the game. Here I am from the stands at the Horseshoe. 

Here's Robert from the stands after the 48-10 win over Southern Illinois. 

Well that wasn't fun. I much prefer winning these one score games as opposed to losing these one score games. Here I am in the stands talking about everything I wrote over the last six weeks and everything we saw on the field today. 

Illinois beats UAB in, let's be honest, a hilarious game. Hail Marys and pick sixes that were more of a fumble than a pass and penalty after penalty from the undisciplined Blazers. I laughed out loud at least five times during this game. So here I am talking about it. 

Scott and Robert are joined by Illini head coach Brad Underwood to discuss the 2026 season. Topics range from the Elite Eight game against Iowa, the star treatment of the team at the Final Four, his scheme changes over the years, and yes, the bull that ran across campus yesterday. Not his, he says.

Hard to believe we're here. 19 wins in two years. Beat South Carolina in the Citrus Bowl and then beat Tennessee in the Music City Bowl. Just... hard to believe we're here. 

This FTS is From The Field. The very cold, slippery, snowy, awesome field. 8-4, baby. 

I recorded this on my drive to Wisconsin. So if you detect me being chipper here, it’s because the 27-10 loss hadn’t happened yet. But here’s me answering questions from Slack for 90 minutes. 

I'm flabbergasted. Confused. That's just not the kind of game we play against a 3-7 football team. This is me trying to process it for 17 minutes. 

Come for the football talk, stay for the old man ranting about children climbing on a howitzer.