On April Fools' Day, the Illinois football team starts spring practice. That’s almost three weeks later than the original date and the same time Michigan wraps up its session. Here are five questions asked and answered by longtime college football writer Bob Asmussen:
Why will the players look so sleepy?
Ten of the 15 practices are scheduled to start at 6 a.m. Tonight’s first practice is an exception, with the Illini set to begin at 5:30 p.m. Why so early otherwise? Academic schedules mandated the dawn workouts, with several of the players unavailable because of a required afternoon class.