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Illinois head coach Bret Bielema says he’s conducted a one-on-one meeting with Altmyer and exchanged text messages with Altmyer’s mother about the Music City Bowl.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

December 7, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Despite doing everything in his power to not spoil an upcoming announcement from the player himself, Bret Bielema did everything but confirm he will have his three-year starting quarterback for one more game.

In the on-campus Music City Bowl acceptance media conference inside the Smith Family Football Complex on Sunday afternoon, Bielema confirmed he has conducted one-on-one meetings with players out of eligibility after this postseason game, including starting quarterback Luke Altmyer. Bielema also said Sunday he received a text message from Altmyer’s mother, Betsy, that “half of Mississippi will be there” and based off all of these elements, the expectation of Bielema and the rest of the Illini coaching staff is for Luke Altmyer to make one more start in the 2025 Music City Bowl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZbl6qJsCGU    

Illinois will play in a bowl game in consecutive […]

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst & Co-Host, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

December 7, 2025

The Illini got much needed marquee win on Saturday night in Nashville, cruising to a 75-61 win over the #13 Tennessee Volunteers as they head into Big Ten play. Tomislav Ivisic, Keaton Wagler each scored 16 points and Kylan Boswell added 15, as the Illini improved to 7-2.
Tennessee led 34–32 at halftime and briefly held a lead in the second half. However, Illinois took control with a decisive 15–3 run midway through the second half to open up a double-digit lead they never relinquished.

Despite being outrebounded by Tennessee (46–31), Illinois was much more efficient offensively, shooting 48% from the field compared to Tennessee's cold shooting night. Illinois held Tennessee to just 36.9% shooting from the field.

Here’s a recap from Nashville.

These 3 Things

The Pieces are Beginning to Go Together - The Illini are starting to look like the team

By IlliniGuys Staff December 6, 2025 (Cover photo courtesy […]

Illinois center Cearah Parchment leads confident group of young players on Shauna Green’s roster ready to navigate Big Ten Conference play.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 6, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Jackson Janes/Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The living embodiment of Shauna Green’s rebuild of Illinois women’s basketball showcased itself Saturday in a relatively unflappable 22-point blowout of a league rival.

It’s not a common thing over the entire lifespan of all the players on Green’s current roster to see Illinois arrive at State Farm Center for a game against Indiana with the confidence that was verbalized by its freshman forward Cearah Parchment.

“I definitely think we came into this game knowing we were going to win,” the 18 year-old big from Ontario, Canada said following the Illini’s 78-57 victory. “We came in thinking we’re going to stomp on their necks, as you would say.

For the first time since the beginning of the 2016-17 season and for the first time under Green, Illinois (8-1, 1-0 in Big Ten Conference) begin league play with a 1-0 record because for the first time since Green’s arrival at Illinois, her squad had the significantly obvious advantage in the paint.

Illinois wins its Big Ten Conference opener for the […]

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst & Co-Host, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

December 6, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

The Ilini have had 8 days off and now are ready for a hungry Tennessee team coming off of 2 straight losses in Nashville on Saturday night. The Illini lost a tough game against top 5 UConn a week ago and now will need to play better in this one to get the win. Illinois is 1-4 against Tennessee all time, losing 66-64 at the horn a year ago, and Brad Underwood is 0-2 against Rick Barnes.

Here’s a look at the particulars.

Setting the Stage
#14/15 Illinois (6-2) vs. #13/13 Tennessee (7-2)
Music City Madness
Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025 // 7 p.m. CT // Nashville, Tenn. // Bridgestone Arena
TV: ESPN – Karl Ravech (Play-by-Play) & Jimmy Dykes (Analyst)
Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play) & Deon Thomas

Notable
*The Illini opened this season with seven straight games of 80+ points. It marked the most such games to open a campaign since the 1988-89 Flyin’ Illini scored 80+ in each of their first 12 contests.

(From Illinois Sports Information Office) ILLINOIS VS. INDIANA Date: […]

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

December 5, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

Illinois added a Vero Beach football player for the fifth straight year with the signing day of Micah "Champ" Smith. Smith is a four star player who flipped from a prior commitment to UCLA to Illinois over offers from nearly all the blueblood programs in the nation, most specifically Ohio State. Smith is a likely tackle but could play guard or even flip to the defensive side of the ball.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

Smith is a rare athlete who can make a difference on the field in numerous ways.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 5, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

Player Biography: Irene Noya Catoira, a 6-foot-3 wing from Vilagarcía de Arousa, Pontevedra, Spain, is in her sophomore season at Illinois after limited playing time as a freshman. She appeared in seven games last season, averaging 2.6 minutes, 0.6 points, 0.3 rebounds, and 0.4 assists.

What we know: Noya Catoira remains somewhat of an unknown

Illini head coach Bret Bielema has been strategic and intentional in his desire to build up the football pipeline from junior colleges to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

December 4, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — While a big percentage of the industry are intently focused on high school and transfer portal, the 2026 signing class showcased Bret Bielema’s strategy to find a third marketplace of talent - junior colleges.

Four members of the 30-player 2026 Illini signing class come from a recently ignored but talent-infused junior colleges and a trio of those older players at very important position groups will likely be asked to immediately take over starting role in the upcoming 2026 season.

With Illinois recently promoting more financial resources than they’ve ever had in the Bielema era to use for player acquisition, Bielema and his player personnel staff including general manager Patrick Embleton and executive director of player evaluations and acquisitions Nate McNeal still understand they still needed to find a strategic way to zig while the rest of power conference programs are zagging into this new world of a professional sports nature of college football recruiting. Enter a further evaluation of junior college prospects.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

December 4, 2025

Illinois filled a 300-pound size hole at a tackle position when College of the Canyons offensive tackle TJ Taylor pledged to the Illini over several high major offers from the lower tier of the Big Ten and SEC.  Taylor is a right tackle for College of the Canyons and that's where I project him for Illinois next year, probably as the starter from day 1.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

Taylor is a high-quality athlete who has developed an impressive skillset in his two years at College of the Canyons. 

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema has said for severa weeks that multiple high school signees could find themselves in the starting lineup for the 2026 season opener by September. Here’s a look a five possibilities.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

December 3, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — This 2026 recruiting class represents a brad new world for Illinois head coach Bret Bielema.

The fifth-year head coach, who just wrapped up his first consensus Top 25 ranked signing class on Wednesday, has consistently said for the last two weeks that he believes this recruiting haul could have multiple true freshman starters for the upcoming 2026 season. This is a claim that Bielema has never been able to publicly declare in his 16 years as a college football head coach despite winning three straight Big Ten Conference championships at Wisconsin and going to three straight bowl games at Arkansas.

“So, I knew when we signed Gabe Jacas that he was going to be a good player. I had a good feeling on that one,” Bielema said. “What makes this class different than any other class I’ve had here is I think I’ve got two to four guys who could walk in the door and instantly be starters. It’s not because they’re athletic but it’s because well, a lot of time freshmen play because of their mental ability more than their physical ability. You have to have a certain awareness in the way you’ve been built and this class will have a higher number of those people than any other I’ve ever had.”

IlliniGuys.com wanted to preview five possible instant starting options for the 2026 Illini that Bielema and his staff have acquired in this recruiting class.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ4qHv2tdTU