All Chicago Sports Blog Posts
March Madness Final Four Preview: Illinois vs UConn
Date: Saturday, April 4th Time: 5:09 PM CT Watch: TBS / truTV Location: Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis, IN) The Illinois Fighting Illini have punched their ticket to the Final Four for the first time since 2005, capping a dominant South Region run with a gritty 71-59 Elite Eight victory over Big Ten rival Iowa. Now,…
March Madness Elite Eight Preview: Illinois vs Iowa
Date: Saturday, March 28th Time: 5:09 PM CT Watch: TBS / truTV Location: Toyota Center (Houston, TX) The Illinois Fighting Illini have punched their ticket to the Elite Eight after a gritty Sweet 16 victory over No. 2 seed Houston, clamping down defensively in a 65-55 win. Now, Brad Underwood’s squad faces a familiar Big…
March Madness Preview: Illinois vs Houston
Date: Thursday, March 26th Time: 9:05 PM CT Watch: TBS / truTV Location: Toyota Center (Houston, TX) The Illini advance to the Sweet 16 after a dominant run, including a convincing 76-55 win over VCU in the Round of 32. Now they face a formidable No. 2 seed Houston Cougars team in Houston. Houston, coached…
March Madness Preview: Illinois vs VCU
Date: Saturday, March 21stTime: 6:50 PM CTWatch: CBSLocation: Bon Secours Wellness Arena (Greenville, SC) The Illini move on to the second round where they’ll face a dangerous and well-balanced VCU team out of the Atlantic 10. This is a clear step up in competition — the Rams are 17-1 in their last 18 and come…
March Madness Preview: Illinois vs Penn
Date: Thursday, March 19th Time: 8:25 PM CT Watch: TNT Location: Bon Secours Wellness Arena (Greenville, SC) The Illini will open up their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament against a familiar foe on the sideline. Illinois will face off with former Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery and the Penn Quakers. The Quakers punched their ticket dramatically by…
Chicago Bulls 2024 Summer League: Roster Breakdown
Summer League is here! Let’s take a look at the Bulls’ schedule and roster for this year in Las Vegas! Bulls Summer League Schedule Date Time (CT) Opponent Place TV 7/13 3:30 PM Bucks Cox Pavilion NBA TV/ESPN+ 7/14 9:00 PM Warriors Thomas & Mack ESPN2 7/16 5:30 PM Pistons Thomas & Mack NBA TV/ESPN+…
Chicago Blackhawks Draft Breakdown: 2024 Prospects Analysis
The Chicago Blackhawks have made significant strides in the 2024 NHL Draft, selecting eight promising young players who are poised to help shape the future of the franchise. With three first round picks, the Blackhawks’ draft picks bring a blend of skill, speed, and potential to the team. In this blog post, we’ll delve into…
Newest Chicago Bull: Matas Buzelis Scouting Analysis
The Bulls took Hinsdale, Illinois native Matas Buzelis with the 11th overall pick in the 2024 draft. Originally thought to be a top ten pick, Buzelis fell to the Bulls on draft day. Buzelis played for G-League Ignite last year. If you’re not aware, the Ignite went 2-32 last season, causing the NBA to dissolve…
Chicago Bears 2024 NFL Draft: Needs, Prospects, and Strategy
After an absolute fleecing of the Carolina Panthers, the Chicago Bears hold the 1st overall pick for the 2nd straight year. Last year, the Bears traded the Panthers the 1st overall pick that they used to select QB Bryce Young. In return, the Bears received veteran, All-Pro WR D.J Moore and a ton of draft…
Chicago Bears Free Agency Grade Report: D’Andre Swift RB
General Manager Ryan Poles and the Chicago Bears got off to a quick start when free agency opened up in March. The offense has been consistently at the bottom half of the rankings for the past several seasons. Poles went to work to address the offensive side of the ball, signing dynamic free agent veteran running…
Playoff Play-in Series Preview: Chicago Bulls vs Atlanta Hawks
Tip Off: Wednesday, April 17th, 2024 – 8:30 PM CT Venue: United Center TV: ESPN The Bulls host the Atlanta Hawks in the 9-10 game of the NBA play-in series on Wednesday night. Chicago won two of the three games between these two in the regular season. The Hawks play fast but they’re ranked 27th…
White Sox – Down on the Farm: Bryan Ramos
Player: Bryan Ramos Position: 3rd-Base Height: 6’2 Weight: 2225 Age: 22 Bats/Throws: R/R Current Level: AA MLB.com Rank: 4th in White Sox System Fangraphs Rank: 3rd in White Sox System Acquired: Signed in July 2018 for $300,000 Hometown: Havana, Cuba The White Sox signed Bryan Ramos during the international signing period in July 2018 for $300,000 out of Cuba. He was heralded as a big-time hitter before…
NCAA Tournament Elite Eight Matchup: Illinois vs Connecticut
Tip Off: Saturday March 30th, 2024 – 5:09 PM CT Venue: TD Garden – Boston, MA Illinois took down 2-seed Iowa State on Thursday night to advance to the Elite Eight. The Illini will take on reigning national champion Connecticut. Illinois dropped from 1st to 2nd in offensive efficiency after the win over Iowa State…
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen Matchup: Illinois vs Iowa State
Tip Off: Thursday March 28th, 2024 – 9:09 PM CT Venue: TD Garden – Boston, MA After beating Duquesne 89-63 in the second round, the Fighting Illini have now reached their first Sweet Sixteen since 2005. Illinois now ranks first in KenPom in offensive efficiency. Iowa State ranks number one in defensive efficiency which makes…
NCAA Tournament Matchup: Northwestern vs Connecticut
Tip Off: 6:45 PM Venue: Barclays Center – Brooklyn, NY After an OT win over Florida Atlantic in the first round, Northwestern will get the defending national champions and number 1 overall seed UConn in the second round. The Huskies beat Stetson in their first-round matchup. UConn ranks 1st in offensive efficiency and 12th in…
NCAA Tournament Matchup: Illinois vs Duquesne
Tip Off: Saturday March 23rd, 2024 – 7:40 PM CT – TNT Venue: CHI Health Center Omaha – Omaha, NE The Fighting Illini are headed to the second round of the NCAA Tournament to take on 11-seeded Duquesne after the Dukes upset BYU in the first round. The storyline for the Dukes is their head…
NCAA Tournament Matchup: Northwestern vs Florida Atlantic
Tip Off: 11:15 AM Venue: Barclays Center – Brooklyn, NY The NCAA Tournament committee did the Wildcats no favors in their potential path to the Sweet Sixteen. The Cats will have to beat two teams from last year’s Final Four in Florida Atlantic and UConn in order to advance to Northwestern’s first Sweet Sixteen in…
NCAA Tournament Preview: Illinois vs Morehead State
Tip Off: Thursday March 21st, 2024 – 2:10 PM CT – truTV Venue: CHI Health Center Omaha – Omaha, NE The Fighting Illini come off a Big Ten Tournament Championship over Wisconsin on Sunday. They’ll have the least amount of rest of any team from Conference Tournament to the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.…
Cubs – Down on the Farm: Michael Busch
Player: Michael Busch Position: 1st-Base Height: 6’1 Weight: 210 Age: 26 Bats/Throws: L/R Current Level: MLB MLB.com Rank: 3rd in Cubs System Acquired: In trade with Los Angeles Dodgers with Yency Almonte for Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope on January 11th, 2024 Hometown: Inver Grove Heights, MN College: North Carolina The Cubs acquired Michael Busch in January in a really interesting trade with the Dodgers. Busch is a…
Beyond the Roster: White Sox Spring Training Non-Roster Invitees
Spring Training is upon us! Time to get familiar with the names we’ll see on the field in Arizona. Non-roster invitees in spring training are players who are invited to participate in the major league camp, but are not on the team’s 40-man roster. The Sox will have a mix of prospects, veterans and minor…
Beyond the Roster: Cubs’ Spring Training Invitees Looking to Make an Impact
Spring Training is almost here so it’s a great time to get familiar with the names we’ll see on the field in Arizona. Non-roster invitees in spring training are players who are invited to participate in the major league camp but are not on the team’s 40-man roster. These players get a chance to practice…
White Sox- Down On The Farm: Jake Eder
Player: Jake Eder Position: Left-Handed Pitcher Height: 6’4 Weight: 215 Age: 25 Bats/Throws: L/L Current Level: AA-Birmingham MLB.com Rank: 5th in White Sox System Drafted: 4th Round, 2020 by Miami Marlins Acquired: Traded from MIA on 8/1/23 for Jake Burger Hometown: Boynton Beach, FL College: Vanderbilt The White Sox acquired Jake Eder at last season’s trade deadline in exchange for Jake Burger. Eder was a 4th round pick out of Vanderbilt…
DePaul’s Quest for a Big East Win: Can We Get One?
The DePaul Blue Demons are currently navigating one of the worst seasons ever seen by a power conference team, holding a disappointing 3-20 overall record and an 0-12 mark in the Big East. The recent firing of head coach Tony Stubblefield and the appointment of Matt Brady as interim head coach signal potential for significant…
Cubs- Down On The Farm: Cade Horton
Player: Cade Horton Position: Right-Handed Pitcher Height: 6’1 Weight: 211 Age: 22 Bats/Throws: R/R Current Level: AA Tennessee MLB.com Rank: 2nd in Cubs System Fangraphs Rank: 7th in Cubs System (2023) Drafted: 1st Round, 7th overall, 2022 Hometown: Oklahoma City, OK College: Oklahoma Ever since the Cubs drafted Cade Horton 7th overall in the 2022 draft, there’s been a ton of excitement about him throughout the organization. It’s pretty incredible…
Northwestern Basketball Season Preview
What a season we got from the Wildcats last year. Preseason picked to finish 13th in the Big Ten but ended up with an NCAA Tournament win and 68-63 loss to 2 seed UCLA in the second round. The Wildcats lose an unbelievable defender in Chase Audige, they also lose Robbie Beran, Julian Roper and…
Illinois Basketball Season Preview
Last year’s team had a ton of skill but never seemed to mesh. In fact, they may have peaked in November and December with neutral site wins over UCLA and Texas. From an outside perspective it never seemed like they were a true team. With Skyy Clark, Jayden Epps, RJ Melendez and Matthew Mayer gone,…
Chicago Bulls Season Preview
The Bulls finished the 2022-23 season with a 40-42 record and were knocked out by the Miami Heat in the play-in tournament. Below we see where the Bulls ranked by offensive and defensive efficiency for last season. The Bulls ranked 5th in the NBA in defensive efficiency, but also dropped to 24th in offensive efficiency.…
Loyola Chicago Basketball Season Preview
Year 3 of the Drew Valentine era. Year 2 was a big step back in terms of national rankings. The Ramblers finished 10-21 and 4-14 in their first season in the Atlantic 10. The combination of losing a lot of key players (five seniors), a new conference and a still new coach created a rough…
DePaul Season Preview: Navigating the Competitive Big East
Tony Stubblefield begins his 3rd year at the helm for the Blue Demons off a year that saw DePaul finish 10-23 (3-17). The only reason DePaul didn’t finish last in the Big East the last two seasons was that Georgetown went 0-19 and 2-18 over those years. Now Patrick Ewing is gone for the Hoyas…
UIC Basketball Season Preview
Last season represented a rude awakening to the Missouri Valley Conference for UIC. The Flames finished 4-16 in conference play (11th place out of 12 teams) and 12-20 overall in their first season in the Valley. The Flames showed flashes at times and competed but failed to close out a lot of close games. They…
Bedard Mania Takes Center Stage: Chicago Blackhawks Season Preview
The Chicago Blackhawks are gearing up for the 2023-24 NHL season, and fans can’t help but be excited after a challenging year in 2022. With last year’s record of 26-47-7 and the lowest goal tally in the league (202 goals scored), it’s clear the rebuild still had a long way to go. The energy around…
Cubs- Down On The Farm: Moises Ballesteros
Player: Moises Ballesteros Position: C/1B Height: 5’7 Weight: 195 (He’s definitely heavier the listed 195) Age: 19 Bats/Throws: L/R Current Level: A+-South Bend/AA-Tennessee MLB.com Rank: 7th in Cubs System Acquired: Signed in 2020-21 International Free Agency Hometown: Los Teques, Venezuela At just 19 years old, Ballesteros has made his way through Myrtle Beach and South Bend this season before joining Tennessee for their playoff push. He hit .274…
White Sox- Down On The Farm: Nick Nastrini
Player: Nick Nastrini Position: Right-Handed Pitcher Height: 6’3 Weight: 215 Age: 23 Bats/Throws: R/R Current Level: AAA-Charlotte MLB.com Rank: 6th in White Sox System Drafted: 4th Round, 2021 by Los Angeles Dodgers Acquired: Traded from LAD on 7/28/23 Hometown: San Jose, CA College: UCLA Nastrini was acquired as part of the return for Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly from Los Angeles at this year’s trade deadline. Since then, Nastrini…
Bears Season Preview
The Bears ended the 2022-23 season with the worst record in the NFL (3-14). They needed and major offseason and they did just that. Trading away the number 1 pick was the first step in the right direction. The Bears had a ton of weaknesses and really did well to start addressing them. Offense The…
Illinois Football Preview
How much fun was last season as an Illinois fan? Illini fans saw an 8-5 season; it was the Illini’s first winning season since 2011 (7-6) and first 8+ win season since 2007. They did finish with a 19-10 loss in the ReliaQuest Bowl to Mississippi State. But it also included wins at Wisconsin, vs…
Northwestern Football Preview
The ugly truth; you’d be hard-pressed to find a Power-5 school in a worse position than the Wildcats going into the 2023 season. There’s a clear black eye on the program after the hazing allegations and the firing of Pat Fitzgerald this summer. That on top of a team that lost their final eleven games…
Cubs- Down on the Farm: Pete Crow-Armstrong
Player: Pete Crow-Armstrong Position: Outfielder Height: 5’11 Weight: 184 Age: 21 Bats/Throws: L/L Current Level: AAA Iowa MLB.com Rank: 12th in MLB, 1st in Cubs System Fangraphs Rank: 20th in MLB, 1st in Cubs System Acquired: Trade from New York Mets for Javier Baez and Trevor Williams (July 30, 2021) High School: Harvard-Westlake, Los Angeles, CA After being drafted by the Mets 19th overall in 2020, Crow-Armstrong was traded to…
Scouting Success: Analyzing the White Sox 2023 Draft Picks
The White Sox draft includes a mix of solid college hitters and a fair number of risks. Six of their first eight picks were lefties and they only selected one high school player in the twenty rounds. There are definitely some intriguing prospects. Let’s take a look at all of the Sox picks from this…
Scouting Success: Analyzing the Chicago Cubs’ 2023 Draft Picks
The Cubs had a total of 20 picks in the 2023 draft. They seem to have split their picks between some solid contact/on-base guys and some riskier guys with big potential. Matt Shaw is the standout who is a clear big leaguer in the future, but the rest of the class has plenty of questions.…
Meet the Newest Blackhawks: Introducing the Future of Hockey in Chicago!
The expectations for the Blackhawks and this year’s draft skyrocketed when they won the NHL Draft Lottery, AKA the Connor Bedard Sweepstakes, back on May 8th. In this post, I’ll not only discuss Bedard’s potential impact on the Blackhawks, but also shed light on the other talented individuals who joined the Blackhawks’ organization. Here’s a…
Chicago Bears 2023 NFL Draft: Needs, Prospects, and Strategy
The Bears showed promise at the beginning of last season. They had a 3-0 preseason and won two of their first three regular season games. The Bears then lost three straight close ones to the Giants, Vikings and Commanders. Followed by a 33-14 beat down of the Patriots on Monday Night in what was a…
NCAA Second Round Preview: Northwestern vs UCLA
Tip Off: 7:40 PM CT Venue: Golden One Center – Sacramento, CA Both of these teams rely on top 20 defenses (UCLA – 1st, NW- 18th) and like to play a slower tempo. In order to stick around, Northwestern is going to have to be able score against that top-ranked defense. The Wildcats does generate…
NCAA Tournament Preview: Illinois vs Arkansas
Illinois gets set to compete in their 3rd straight NCAA Tournament on Thursday against Arkansas. The Razorbacks come into the Tournament off back-to-back Elite Eight runs. Tip Off: Thursday March 16th, 2023 – 3:30 PM CT Venue: Wells Fargo Center – Des Moines, IA Let’s get into the matchup: Both of these teams had really…
NCAA Tournament Preview: Northwestern vs Boise State
Northwestern will play in their 2nd NCAA Tournament in school history on Thursday. They’ll meet the Boise State Broncos, who make their second straight Tournament appearance. Tip Off: March 16, 2023 – 6:35 PM CT Venue: Golden One Center – Sacramento, CA Let’s get into the matchup: The makeup of these teams is pretty similar.…
Illinois Basketball Season Preview
The Illini were co-Big Ten Champions last year and made another NCAA Tournament Appearance. They beat Chattanooga is a tightly contested first round game and then fell to Houston in the round of 32. But now Kofi is gone, along with nine other players from last year’s team. The Illini have reloaded through the transfer…
Northwestern Season Preview
Northwestern enters this year without a NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017. That was their only one in program history and since that season the Wildcats have gone just 26-71 in Big Ten play. Last season was absolutely filled with close losses. Only four of their 16 losses were by double digits. Those losses were at…
DePaul Season Preview
DePaul finished last season 15-16 and 6-14 in Big East play. That 6-14 record tied them for 9th place with Butler. It was the first time in the last six seasons the Blue Demons did not finish last in the Big East. There were definitely a few glimmers of hope in head coach Tony Stubblefield’s…
Loyola Chicago Season Preview
A new season and a new conference for the Ramblers as they begin their first season as a member of the Atlantic-10 conference. Loyola finished their final season in the Missouri Valley with a conference tournament championship and a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The Ramblers then lost in the first-round game to Ohio State…
UIC Basketball Season Preview
After 21 seasons in the Horizon League, UIC moves to the Missouri Valley Conference this season. With the departure of Loyola Chicago to the Atlantic 10, UIC takes their spot as the Chicago-based team in The Valley. The move will be a step up in competition and can hopefully push UIC to take another step…
Chicago Bulls Season Preview
The Bulls finished the 2021-22 season at 46-36 and made it back to the postseason for the first time since 2016-17. They lost the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, but it was a positive step forward that was a lot of fun for Bulls Nation. The Glaring Question The Bulls were 39-21 through their…