The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.

Oct. 26—*** Those us of lucky enough to work in sports receive constant reminders that the players and coaches we deal with daily have their own lives, families and heartbreaks. Illinois released a statement Sunday that football coach Bret Bielema had lost his father Arnie earlier in the day. The sixth-year Illinois leader was able to visit with his dad on Thursday and Friday ahead of his ...

Oct. 26—Extraordinary in-depth surveys by The Athletic and CBS Sports confirm what we might never have imagined in this pay-for-play collegiate era. We can be semi-certain that Brad Underwood's Illini men's basketball roster falls on the plus side of $20 million while the huge Illinois football squad checks in just short of that number. As a result, with the cagers ranked among the 11 national ...

Oct. 26—1. Miami (59) 7-0 1,735 1 2. Ohio State (10) 6-1 1,681 3 3. Georgia 6-1 1,511 5 4. Indiana 7-1 1,459 6 5. Notre Dame 6-1 1,458 4 6. Utah (1) 7-0 1,413 10 7. UCLA 7-0 1,398 9 8. BYU 6-1 1,325 2 9. Kentucky 7-1 1,185 12 10. Alabama 6-2 1,063 13 11. Texas 5-2 966 19 12. Mississippi 5-2 871 7 13. Texas Tech 6-1 861 8 14. Wake Forest 6-1 822 17 15. LSU 6-2 813 18 16. Tennessee 6-2 662 11 ...