BRET BIELEMA

Mississippi State players and staff felt they knew what Mike Leach would want them to do following the Dec. 12 death of the Bulldogs coach due to complications from a heart condition: play in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Illinois. “It has been expressed and they understand that we are doing exactly what Coach Leach would want of us,” said Zach Arnett, who was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach three days after the death. “And that is to finish this season off, to stay focused on the game, to put in the work and prepare," Arnett added.

Wisconsin is bringing Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell back to the Big Ten.

No. 3 Michigan avoided an upset at home to the Illinois Fighting Illini, but Illinois head coach Bret Bielema thinks Michigan got some help from the refs.

Jake Moody made a go-ahead, 35-yard field goal with nine seconds left to give No. 3 Michigan a 19-17 win over Illinois.

Illinois' Bert Bielema acknowledges that incident between Michigan State and Michigan has impacted his own team ahead of game vs. Spartans.

It has been an eventful stretch for Chase Brown. The Illinois star became the season's first 1,000-yard rusher in the Football Bowl Subdivision on Oct. 15 and only the third player in program history to reach the milestone in back-to-back years. The fifth-year running back is the undisputed headliner of a resurgent Illinois team that, at No. 17, has its highest ranking since 2011 and is first in the Big Ten West.

A 5-1 start has netted No. 24 Illinois three Big Ten midseason awards from The Associated Press.

Georgia has taken back the top spot in The Associated Press college football poll from Alabama.

Wisconsin has fired head coach Paul Chryst after a 2-3 start to his eighth season leading his alma mater.

Brandon Peters threw for 242 yards and a touchdown and Illinois rolled over Big Ten rival Northwestern 47-14 on Saturday. With the resounding win to end the regular season, Illinois hopes to secure its second bowl bid in five years. “It's been fun to build this thing,” first-year Illinois coach Bret Bielema said.

The Iowa-Illinois football rivalry is nothing like it was decades ago. Illinois’ last win came in 2008, and the teams didn’t play again until 2014 when they were put together in the Big Ten West Division. Iowa has had two shutouts in the streak, including a 63-0 rout in Champaign in 2018.

Fans headed back into stadiums for the start of college football season.

Bielema is returning to the Big Ten and his home state to coach Illinois. Illinois hired the former Wisconsin and Arkansas coach, hoping he can turn around a program with nine straight losing seasons. Illinois said Bielema will receive a six-year contract with an annual salary starting at $4.2 million, and begin work immediately. He became the third coach in NCAA history to win 12 games in his rookie season when Wisconsin went 12-1 in 2006. In January, the New York Giants and new head coach Joe Judge hired Bielema as outside linebackers coach and senior assistant.