CHICAGO – It’s the beginning of November, and it’s an important time for a number of college football teams.
Some of them are trying to position themselves for a chance to win a conference championship or even make the College Football Playoff while others are looking to assure themselves of a chance at postseason eligibility.
That is the case for FBS teams of interest in the Chicagoland area who each start November with something to play for.
Illinois is in the midst of their best season in over two decades as they entered the College Football Playoff rankings for the first time ever this past week at No. 16. They face Michigan State to begin a two-game home stretch in Champaign, with a win over the Spartans and then Purdue on November 12th earning the Illini their first-ever Big Ten West division title.
At 7-1, Illinois is off to their best start since the last time they won a conference championship back in 2001.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame is looking to become bowl eligible on Saturday at home as they face arguably their biggest game of the 2022 season. No. 4 Clemson comes to South Bend for a primetime contest as they look to stay in the national championship conversation.
That’s not the case for Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish, but a chance to get a statement win in the head coach’s first season is certainly on the table.
Those two teams highlight this week’s “Campus Check-In” on WGN News Now as we spotlight Illinois and Notre Dame’s start to November. We’ll also check in with Northwestern and Northern Illinois, each of whom are playing for pride this November after their chance to be bowl-eligible ended last weekend with a seventh loss.
Plus we’ll spotlight a few other local teams that are currently in the midst of successful seasons, including three squads that are currently ranked No. 1 in their respective divisions.
Larry Hawley has more in this week’s edition of “Campus Check-In,” which you can watch by clicking on the video above.
