At long last, Illinois has a bowl destination all squared away. The Illini will take on Conference USA runner-up Louisiana Tech in the Heart of Dallas Bowl on Dec. 26 at the Cotton Bowl. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.
Though they reached bowl eligibility by beating Northwestern in the regular-season finale to get to 6-6, the Illini weren’t assured of finding a game that would take them. The explanation is complicated, but suffice it to say the College Football Playoff committee moving Mississippi State from No. 10 to No. 7 and bumping Michigan State to No. 8 and therefore out of the Orange Bowl ended up helping Illinois’ cause a great deal. Read more