By Greg Halbleib

The University of Illinois has unveiled plans to renovate the south and east sides of Memorial Stadium. The football offices, locker rooms and training area will move from the north end to behind the south end zone, and a new south grandstand will replace the existing horseshoe. The east side will have new restrooms, concession facilities and elevators. Price tag is estimated at $132 million.
Pontiac cross country finished 30th out of 33 teams at the Peoria Invitational.

Pontiac volleyball lost in three sets to IVC.

Illinois State volleyball lost in straight sets at Drake to end an eight-match winning streak. The Redbirds are at Evansville and Southern Illinois this weekend.

Redbird football remains in the Top 25 in the STATS FCS poll, dropping to Number 23. Five other Missouri Valley Football Conference teams are ranked, including this week’s Homecoming opponent Youngstown State at Number 15. Others in the poll are North Dakota State at Number 1, Northern Iowa 11th, South Dakota State 12th and Western Illinois 13th.

The Vikings beat the Giants 24-10 in Monday Night Football. The Vikings and Broncos are the NFL’s only 4-0 teams.

The White Sox have promoted Rick Renteria from bench coach to manager, replacing Robin Ventura. It’s his second time managing in Chicago, as he was fired by the Cubs after the 2014 season so they could hire Joe Maddon.

The Major League Baseball playoffs open tonight as the Blue Jays host the Orioles in the American League Wild Card. The National League Wild Card match-up is tomorrow in New York between the Giants and the Mets. The Cubs wait for that winner and will host the first two games in the National League Division Series on Friday at 8:15 and Saturday at 7:08.

Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson is suspended for the rest of the pre-season and the regular season opener against the Blues for his charging penalty last Saturday for a hit on St. Louis forward Ty Rattie.