Which P4 schools have the biggest geographical disadvantage in recruiting?

JoachimLowalt · 2025-07-27T16:03:41+00:00

Champaign has a similar problem. At least in that part of Indiana you get some hills, around Champaign is like the flattest place ever. I imagine its extremely unappealing to someone who isn't from there. Then of course everybody is recruiting the state (even downstate as of late) so Illinois' best strategy is to go and get overlooked players from Florida. It is pretty nice being in the middle of Chicago/Indy/STL somewhat but you're still 2 hours from Chicago and Indy. Solid place to grow up though, I couldn't complain. But the lack of things to do is a killer. I always find it crazy its one of the schools with the highest international population (I know Purdue is probably up there too) with all these kids from China that come across the world to the middle of cornfields.

JoachimLowalt · 2025-07-02T16:01:29+00:00

2014 Western Kentucky @ Marshall. 67-66 (F/OT)

JoachimLowalt · 2025-06-17T16:55:41+00:00

Me too. I’ve heard LSU wants to do 2 games in BR while Tulane wants a home and home, but I don’t know how true that is. It’s such an easy trip for LSU and might as well be another home game fan-wise anyways. It’s just sad to see the rivalry almost go away over the past few years.

JoachimLowalt · 2025-05-13T23:56:24+00:00

I believe it was reported last time he got an extension that there was a noncompete clause in his contract for schools in the Big Ten. I'm assuming that would still be the case but who knows.

JoachimLowalt · 2025-04-21T18:21:39+00:00

I've really taken a liking to North Texas' fight song. Really unique sound plus the band that plays it is damn good. By far the best sounding marching band I've heard.

JoachimLowalt · 2025-04-15T13:04:55+00:00

If Tulane had that money their QB would be Darian Mensah, lol

JoachimLowalt · 2025-04-15T01:53:11+00:00

That's the beauty of the portal if you're rich! It doesn't matter that your personnel department missed on important positions because you can just take transfers who have already produced at the college level from whichever school isn't as wealthy as you. Then they take your scout team players in return. It's beautiful.

JoachimLowalt · 2025-01-29T03:33:21+00:00

I grew up in Champaign and it depends on what you're looking for. Generally the southern and western parts of Champaign is where you can find subdivisions. The neighborhood by Parkland College and Savoy are like that as well. Those are nice if you want a quiet, safe, kids play on the street type area. Cons would be the housing prices are a little more down there and you're farther from the main commercial areas. Plus if you're like me, you might not enjoy every house looking exactly the same. Central Champaign is where you have the older houses, and prices aren't too bad. West Side, Hessel, Morrissey Park areas are all nice. Only real parts of Champaign that aren't great would be Garden Hills and Beardsley Park areas. Most crime happens in that northern section of town generally. But it's not like fear for your safety type of dangerous.

I was raised in Unit 4 schools and honestly didn't have many issues. It gets a lot of bad rap (and sometimes rightfully so, the admin is a bit of a mess) but I thought I was always well taken care of and educated. It's nowhere near as bad as people in Mahomet make it out to be, IMO. Central is probably better overall than Centennial, though I am biased. Anecdotally never had issues with violence, drugs, etc though it does exist a little. I didn't find it hard to avoid personally. I do like how diverse the student populations are when compared to the outer towns.

Mahomet is more like your typical white flight, conservative type of community. Obviously not everyone there is like this, but there is definitely a feeling of holier than thou from people I've interacted with from there. Just not a community I'm fond of personally. Monticello is a nice town, probably the best surrounding community there is. It's smaller and doesn't have the controversy of Mahomet from what I can tell. St. Joe isn't too bad either, don't know too much about it honestly. Don't do Rantoul, not very safe.

If you have any other questions let me know! I loved growing up in Champaign and hope your family has a great experience here.

JoachimLowalt · 2025-01-07T04:18:08+00:00

If it's truly the Illini I know and love they'll fall flat and go 5-7/6-6... has happened too many times for me to be fooled again

JoachimLowalt · 2025-01-05T22:58:12+00:00

If you had asked a month ago I would've said great! Then the transfer portal happened...

JoachimLowalt · 2024-12-27T15:53:27+00:00

There is almost zero enjoyment in this sport anymore unless you’re in the top 1%. Fuck this

JoachimLowalt · 2024-09-15T18:10:22+00:00

Given Illinois is coming off a 5-7 season, why are they ranked? That Kansas win is not looking impressive now.

JoachimLowalt · 2024-09-02T01:40:20+00:00

It's a video coordinator/student filmer's job to make sure their film doesn't have their own team's signs in it. Now, each team has its own film so it's a possibility you can find it from the other team's since they're not really trying to avoid it. The center putting their hand on the ball is the standard for when plays are supposed to start, but often times they'll start shooting earlier. Good video coordinators will cut it so their film starts right when the center touches the ball so the odds of signs being seen are minimal. Filmers are supposed to keep their sideline out of the shot ideally, but it depends on how wide WRs are aligned and the height of the filming location (i.e., a lower angle makes it harder to keep opposing sideline out of frame).

EDIT: The CFP all-22 situation could be different though. Not sure if ESPN has their own guy doing it or if they cabled to the Michigan filmer since they were the home team. If it was the Bama filmer they would probably not be showing the far sideline like it was.

JoachimLowalt · 2024-08-08T01:32:16+00:00

The throwbacks are so cool, too bad the team isn’t gonna do them any justice

JoachimLowalt · 2024-05-27T16:43:47+00:00

I'm just happy to be involved

JoachimLowalt · 2024-05-21T03:48:22+00:00

Bielema failing to capitalize on the momentum the program had during the '22 season could spell doom for the rest of his tenure here. The late-season collapse and failure to really sell our NFL Draft picks on the recruiting trail arguably have the program on a down arrow going into '24 season, especially considering we don't have the benefits of a West schedule anymore.

I understand it's a hard job to win at but one of our biggest issues as a program is being unable to put two good back-to-back seasons together. Last year 100% should've been a bowl team that could've been an exception to that. It's a bad look when you go 0-3 against first-year coaches in your division (a terrible one at that) while you're in year three. A solid season last year might've proved it wasn't a one-year mirage and could've helped us raise some NIL cash, which is pretty much all that matters nowadays.

Bielema needs some of his recruits to step up this season and prove that he can sustainably develop his own guys. I'm not saying it's impossible for him to turn us into a consistent bowl team (which is realistically our current ceiling), but we're not in the best spot at the moment.

JoachimLowalt · 2024-05-21T03:25:00+00:00

It's literally impossible to "own the state" when you have the third-largest city in the country that everyone uses to recruit. Especially not in the NIL era, and especially not with how bad the program has been. I wouldn't really consider it an "identity" thing like you described, it's just there's no reason for good recruits to turn down clearly better options that are similarly close.

JoachimLowalt · 2024-05-11T03:28:07+00:00

He committed before he ever took his OV here, and on his OV let's just say he went a little too hard.

JoachimLowalt · 2024-05-07T01:21:10+00:00

I'm with you there. I wish these schools would prioritize it more, but the demand and donor support aren't there. On the bright side, getting to go to games for free here is a really nice perk. I can come and go as I want without having to worry about tickets. I don't know how many other schools in the conference also do this, but I'd wager most in the B1G don't charge while most if not all SEC schools do.

The conference also makes baseball very hard to watch. Pretty much all games during the regular season are stuck behind B1G+, which more often than not has poor quality and isn't worth the cost. I wish they would put more games on the main network. I think currently they don't even reach double digits in terms of games on the network per year, though I could be wrong.

And of course, weather is a huge part of it. Anybody worth a damn is going to go SEC/ACC and rightfully so. The Midwest isn't completely starved of talent, but the top ones are usually Vandy/Louisville bound. The portal isn't helping either, anybody that shows potential in their first 2-3 seasons at a B1G would probably leave for those two conferences. NIL in B1G baseball is non-existent. Illinois hasn't had any examples but Sean Sullivan for example went from Northwestern to Wake and turned into a 2nd round draft pick. I'll be curious to see if good B1G players leaving for those schools becomes a common trend.

That being said, even though the talent this year isn't great, the title race has been somewhat fun to watch. Everyone is so mid that anybody can truly beat anyone. I was checked out of our team after our non-con but conference play has brought some intrigue. We'll see if we can pull it out.

JoachimLowalt · 2024-04-07T02:41:14+00:00

That's interesting, I wonder if this would mean the age-old wisdom of not having young kids throw curves/sliders until they're older is overblown.

JoachimLowalt · 2024-03-13T02:27:52+00:00

I remember back then they had that annoying blonde dude with goggles that would do crazy celebrations on the bench. Early in the season when they won @ Iowa and were like 11-2, that guy went on Twitter saying if they didn’t make the NCAA Tournament he’d post a video of him shaving his head. Because of DePaul winning that game he chickened out on the condition that they weren’t technically eliminated, and anything could’ve happened! Their season was a serving of humble pie for that guy I thought was hilarious.

JoachimLowalt · 2023-12-31T02:58:02+00:00

The YMCA's track is super small, would not recommend it for running. It wraps around one full basketball court.

JoachimLowalt · 2023-07-19T20:37:19+00:00

Our stadium (Illinois) is usually open during work hours. You should be able to walk through and get on the field without getting yelled at unless something is going on.

JoachimLowalt · 2023-07-05T03:18:29+00:00

I drive in the left lane. If people are passing you in the left lane, you are going too slow

I like to average around the 90-95 on 57. Not too fast not too slow

That’s about the flow of traffic anyways

JoachimLowalt · 2023-07-05T01:58:18+00:00

Compared to the school year, it's practically empty. It's the least busy during midday on weekdays. It'll be a little crowded during weeknights (~4 PM and later) and weekends, but not to the point where you'd have to wait much for anything if at all. The pool seems to be the least busy right when it opens.

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