The #22 Illinois Fighting Illini (5-1, 2-1) will host the #24 Michigan Wolverines this Saturday for the Memorial Stadium Rededication Game. This comes 100 years and one day after Memorial Stadium’s initial dedication game, which saw Red Grange score six touchdowns (four in the first 12 minutes), as the Fighting Illini blew out the Wolverines 39-14.
Grange took the opening kickoff 95 yards for a score in what is considered one of the greatest individual performances in college football history. UM came into that game sporting a 20 game winning streak.
Betting Lines
This is a massive game, not just in America, but everywhere, as it’s attracting betting interest from all over the world. The best betting sites in Kenya, and in all the other corners of the globe, see the Fighting Illini as three point underdogs, or available for +135 on the money line. Sports betting, especially on college football, is multinational big business.
The total is set at 43.5 while the ESPN Matchup Predictor forecast gives Michigan a 59.5% chance of winning.
Special Uniquely Themed Uniforms
The Fighting Illini will wear 1920s-themed uniforms, with the helmets (they really do look like they’re leather- very clever!), jerseys, and pants all designed to resemble what they wore during the Red Grange era, as well as the Fighting Illini teams of the program’s earliest years of existence
Tickets
Sold out, so scalper market only at this point.
Broadcast Information
CBS is sending their A-team of Brad Nessler (play-by-play) and Gary Danielson (analyst) to Champaign. So if you’re watching on TV, it might sound like a nationally broadcast SEC game to you.
For the radio, Illini Sports Network has the statewide broadcast, with Brian Barnhart (play-by-play), Kevin Mitchell (analyst), and Kacy Standohar (sideline) on the call.
Special Pregame Festivities
» Symposium: “Ghost Stories at Memorial Stadium” | Memorial Stadium 77 Club | Thursday, Oct. 17 | 6:30 p.m. CT | Free Stream
» Rededication Ceremony | Grange Grove | Friday, Oct. 18 | 11 a.m. CT
» 100th Anniversary Gala | Memorial Stadium Colonnades Club | Friday, Oct. 18 | 5:30 p.m. CT
The Rededication Ceremony will be on the exact centennial anniversary of the Red Grange game.
It’s free and open to the public inside Grange Grove and is scheduled to commence at 11 a.m. CT. The ceremony will feature a program that honors the many uses of Memorial Stadium over the last century and an unveiling of new historic features around the stadium.
Historical Significance
Iconic and legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice tabbed Grange as a “gray ghost” following the Michigan Performance in 1924:
A streak of fire, a breath of flame
Eluding all who reach and clutch;
A gray ghost thrown into the game
That rival hands may never touch;
A rubber bounding, blasting soul
Whose destination is the goal.
Red Grange of Illinois!
Enjoy the game, and all the festivities Fighting Illini fans!
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.