Illinois and Northwestern are all set to renew their annual, regular-season-ending football rivalry Saturday in Champaign, and the tension is so thick, you could cut it with a plastic spork.
After all, what do the Illini and Wildcats play for if not pure, unadulterated rivalry hate? Oops, sorry, did we say “hate”? We meant hat, as in the Land of Lincoln Trophy. The Wildcats are 9-5 since the schools began playing for The Hat, as it’s known in all its bronze-stovepipe glory, in 2009. Ah, but the Illini have prevailed in the last two meetings by scores of 47-14 and 41-3, their most lopsided wins in the annual series since 1989.
