The 88 Illini: #80-#77

For whatever reason, I have a very strong "now it begins" feeling this morning. Perhaps it was all of the photos on social media of the first basketball practice yesterday. Perhaps it's the knowledge that the football players (including the summer enrollees) are on campus and going through workouts. But it feels like 2026-27 athletic calendar has reached Day One.

Usually that happens after the College World Series (at least for me, even though we're never involved). That's the final act of the college sports year and then we immediately turn our focus to the upcoming fall seasons. But for whatever reason, today feels like "the ramp-up has begun." I just did a reshuffle of this 88 Illini list and for the first time, I'm feeling a little better about it.

Maybe I can say it this way. As the grandson, son, and brother of optometrists, this morning's adjustment to the 88 Illini list is that final "is it better here, or is it better HERE" moment for me. You ask the eye doctor to do it again, you feel like #1 is a little clearer than #2, you question your answer, and then you go with "the first one."

And that's it. You're locked in on your prescription. Time to order the new glasses or contacts. I can see clearly now, and the next player should be...