With summer nearly upon us, the time for new uniform reveals and other special announcements is officially here.
Yesterday, Baylor announced they've simplified their threads.
Bret Bielema and Illinois are also getting in on the action, announcing that to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Memorial Stadium, the Illini will be wearing three different throwback helmets this fall.
Of the three choices, one features numbers and four stars and hails from the Dick Butkus years at Illinois, worn from 1962-1968.
The arched Illini helmet were worn from 1971-87, and the helmet that speaks most to my generation, and my personal favorite, has to be the underlined Illinois lid which most will associate with Juice Williams, Mikel Leshoure, Ron Zook and Arrellious Benn.
The helmets are being rolled out to honor a different era each week, in an effort to connect with the entire fan base. A helmet schedule for the season is set to be released at a future date.
This past off season, Bielema added a few highly regarded young coaches this off season in Corey Parker (from Toledo) and Justin Stepp (from South Carolina) in an effort to push them over the 5-7 hump they've been in two of Bielema's three seasons in Champaign, with an 8-5 season sandwiched between them, and challenge for the top of the new-look Big Ten.
The Illini open up with three home non-conference games (vs. Eastern Illinois, Kansas, and Central Michigan) before hitting the road to open Big Ten play against Nebraska.