CHICAGO — There has been no shortage of news for college football fans over the last month, and the season is still a few weeks from starting.

In the Chicagoland area, Northwestern has been in the midst of a storm after further hazing allegations began to surface in early July. It led to the ouster of head coach Pat Fitzgerald, the leader of the program for 17 years who was also one of the best players in the history of the program.

That has been followed by lawsuits from former players from the football program and other sports as the Wildcats athletic program has been under national scrutiny. Now interim head coach David Braun has to get the team ready for the 2023 season, trying to improve on a 1-11 campaign from last fall.

Meanwhile, conferences are changing by the minute, with two more teams added to the Big Ten in Oregon and Washington in August. The Pac-12 is in flux, the Big 12 is adding teams while the ACC is mulling a western expansion.

With all of this going on off the field, teams are right now in training camp getting ready for the 2023 season. That includes Bret Bielema’s Illinois Fighting Illini, who are coming off their best season in 15 years, one in which they won eight games to earn a postseason bowl berth.

This made for a lot of things to talk about with Paul M. Banks of TheSportsBank.net on this edition of “9 Good Minutes” on WGN News Now. The longtime college football reporter gave his perspective on Northwestern, which he covered extensively in the Fitzgerald era, along with the changing landscape in college football.

See his full interview with Larry Hawley in the video above.