Coming off their fourth loss in five games in a 28-3 defeat to Ohio State Saturday, the Illinois Fighting Illini will look to get back on track as they visit the Minnesota Golden Gophers in a Big Ten West clash Saturday at 11 am.
The Illini are 5-5 and a win away from bowl eligibility for the second straight year while the Golden Gophers are a very disappointing 4-6 (1-5 in Big Ten).
Illinois will not play another game at Champaign this season as they will play Northwestern at Chicago's Soldier Field next week.
If Illinois is to get to bowl eligility and boos the resume for interim head coach Bill Cubit, they will need a win in the next two weeks. Northwestern is ranked 20th in the country.
The Golden Gophers have hit hard times of late with four straight losses paired with the sudden announcement of the retirement of former-head coach Jerry Kill due to health reasons.
>>Redbirds Host South Dakota For Shot At Missouri Valley Championship
For the second year in a row, Illinois State (8-2, 6-1 MVFC) will have a chance to clinch at least a share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title with a win in the regular-season finale.
A win over South Dakota (5-5, 3-4 MVFC) would secure the Redbirds back-to-back championships for the first time in school history and propel ISU into the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1998-99.
Coming off a 42-21 win at Southern Illinois last week, the Redbirds totalled a season-best 372 yards rushing at Southern Illinois (Nov. 14) and scored all six of their touchdowns on the ground against the Salukis.
Kickoff Saturday is set for noon and can be seen on ESPN3 or on Comcast Sports Network Chicago.
>>Eastern Illinois Hosts Eastern Kentucky in Season Finale Saturday
The Eastern Illinois Panthers will host No. 23 Eastern Kentucky on Senior Day at O'Brien Field in Charleston Saturday.
The Panthers are coming off a 23-21 win over Tennessee-Martin last week and are 6-1 overall in the Ohio Valley and 6-4 on the season.
The Colonels are 6-4 overall and 5-2 in the OVC.
Game time is 1 pm and can be heard on The Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM WHOW and online at dewittdailynews.com.
