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Live blog: Redbird football fans flock to Nashville for championship game
The latest reporting from the WGLT team in Nashville as Illinois State University football faces Montana State in the FCS championship game. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. Monday. You can watch on ESPN or listen on WJBC.
- Watch parties in Bloomington-Normal
- Fan events in Nashville
- Past coverage of ISU's historic playoff run
Questions or news tips? Contact us at news@wglt.org.
Big crowd at ISU fan party in Nashville
Illinois State football fans are making the most of their trip to Nashville. ISU fans spent Sunday night at the pre-championship party at Dierks Bentley's Whiskey Row on Broadway.
"We're so excited to cheer on the Redbirds tomorrow," said Sara Hafner, an ISU alum.
"We're just hoping to be with a bunch of Illinois State fans," said Joseph Heckert, an ISU alum. "Hoping to party it up and have a good time."
Redbird alums from 2014-15 season are headed to Nashville
This year’s resilient ISU team has earned the school’s second trip to the title game, leaving an impression on those on that first trip 11 years ago.
The current unseeded Redbirds have made history as the first to win four road playoff games en route to Monday’s championship game against No. 2 Montana State in Nashville.
“It’s brought back a lot of memories,” said Teddy Corwin, a standout defensive lineman on the 2014-15 team. “I’ve been looking at my old jersey. I still have that with me from when we played in the championship game. It’s really fun. It’s exciting.”
Corwin estimated 15 former Redbirds from his class will be in Nashville, with other 2014 Redbirds who were older and younger also planning to attend.
A first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference pick in 2014, Corwin has reveled in this year’s run, particularly when the Redbirds rallied late to beat North Dakota State in the second round at Fargo. NDSU beat ISU in the 2015 title game.
“When they played NDSU I was like, ‘This team is probably going to go on a run here.’ They were looking good and getting over that hump of NDSU was what we could not do,” Corwin said. “For them to be able to do it, I think they have a good chance.
“I know Montana State is a good team, but I think the old Redbirds can take care of business and bring the first championship back to Normal.”
If the Redbirds win, it wouldn’t be ISU’s first national championship
This year’s ISU football team is chasing history ‒ but they wouldn’t be the first Redbird squad to bring home a national championship.
The last time it happened was in 1969, when ISU’s baseball team won the College Division World Series. That remains the only team national championship in ISU history.
That 1969 team was led by head coach Duffy Bass, for whom ISU’s current baseball field is named. They were 33-5 in that championship season and swept through the College World Series with three straight wins. They competed in what is now called NCAA Division II.
The team included infielder Jim Brownlee, a former Marine who later was the ISU head coach from 2003-09, and student manager Mike McCuskey, a future chair of ISU’s Board of Trustees. After their big win, ISU’s players rode a fire truck for a victory parade through Bloomington-Normal.
Learn more about the 1969 team in this piece from ISU’s alumni magazine.
ISU watch parties set across the country, including 10+ in Bloomington-Normal
If you can’t make the trip to Nashville but still want to watch Monday’s game with your fellow Redbird fans, there are official watch parties scheduled across the country.
That includes at least 10 watch parties around Bloomington-Normal, plus gatherings in Chicago, Peoria, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Tampa, San Francisco, and elsewhere.
Keep an eye on ISU’s official watch party list, which is constantly being updated.
Monday’s FCS national championship game will be televised on ESPN at 6:30 p.m.