12/4/07
For Illini, the rush for Rose Bowl tickets is on.

The University of Illinois says it's already received 12,000 requests for tickets to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, where the Illini will play the USC Trojans on New Year's Day.

The surge comes a day after officials picked the Illini to play in their first Rose Bowl since 1984. It'll be their first bowl for the U of I since 2002.

Illinois will have about 26,000 tickets to sell.

School donors and season-ticket holders will get first crack at them. They have until Friday to put in their requests. Student season-ticket holders have until Wednesday evening.

Any tickets still left go on sale to the public next week.

11/30/07
The Pac-10 campaign concludes with a quartet of rivalry games, two of which could figure in determining the league's Rose Bowl entrant. No. 9 Southern California can simplify matters by beating UCLA in the Coliseum. The Bruins, who ruined the Troj