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Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s going on around the area:
Lenny Sementi had success in coaching softball at Tuscola and also as a long-time assistant football coach.
Three reasons we love sports today
➜ 1. Congrats to long-time Tuscola assistant football coach Lenny Sementi, who is now the Parkland softball coach after a decorated softball coaching career at Tuscola, too. Sementi is one of 18 high school football coaches who will go into the 2025 Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame this upcoming March.
➜ 2. Illinois volleyball standout Raina Terry earned Third-Team All-American status by the American Volleyball Coaches Association on Wednesday, the 23rd player in Illini history to receive that distinction.
➜ 3. Another honor for Bruce Weber came on Wednesday. The former Illinois men’s basketball coach is going into the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame for his success at Southern Illinois.
Curt Cignetti and his Indiana football team are the first Big Ten team to play a postseason game this month when his Hoosiers play at Notre Dame on Friday night in a first-round College Football Playoff game.
Numbers game: 12
Big Ten football teams who will play in at least one postseason game. Possibly more games depending on how Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State fare in the first year of an expanded 12-team playoff field. Illinois, of course, is one of the 12 programs as the Illini continue preparations to play South Carolina in the Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31 from Orlando, Fla.
Former Illinois defensive coordinator Tim Banks will try to help Tennessee beat Ohio State on Saturday night in a first-round College Football Playoff game.
Crowd control
Three events I’m paying attention to
➜ 1. Indiana at Notre Dame football. Chance for the Hoosiers (11-1) to keep proving people wrong when they take on the host Irish (11-1) at 7 p.m. Friday in the first-ever first-round game of the 12-team College Football playoff era.
➜ 2. SMU at Penn State football. The host Nittany Lions (11-2) are an 8 1/2-point favorite against the Mustangs (11-2) before Saturday’s 11 a.m. first-round playoff game kicks off at Beaver Stadium.
➜ 3. Tennessee at Ohio State football. The Tennessee defensive coordinator tasked with stopping Ohio State’s offense on Saturday night is … Tim Banks. The former Illinois defensive coordinator is in his fourth season with the Volunteers.
Armstrong-Potomac track and field coach Amy Bailey.
Coach’s corner
Three questions with Armstrong-Potomac track and field coach Amy Bailey:
➜ 1. My favorite sports team is … the United States track and field teams.
➜ 2. Two coaches I’d like to have dinner with are … Chris Bennett and Jerry Hewerdine.
➜ 3. My biggest pet peeve is … having to repeat myself.