Illinois or Northwest? Voters chose the team they hope will win Saturday at Wrigley Field

Northwestern will be the home team against Illinois on Saturday at Wrigley Field. Yes, in football. Some of you were probably too busy putting pins in your George McCaskey dolls to realize this was going to happen.

In this week’s Polling Place, your home for Sun-Times sports polls on social platform X, we asked which team you think would rather win the battle for the Hat Trophy.

“It means more for Illinois,” @JeffreyCanalia wrote, referencing the Illini’s 8-3 record and the possibility of playing in a New Year’s Day bowl game.

Next, we asked if Luke Richardson is the right coach to lead the Blackhawks into their next winning era.

“Nope,” @arrosen76 commented. “He’s not a rebuilding coach. He’s a win-now coach.”

“I would like it if he stopped changing his lines so much,” said @MeersmanChris. “Has he heard of consistency or chemistry?”

Lastly, we asked how often you bet on sports.

“Much, much rarer than 2020-21,” wrote @DeyoSahler. “It’s so hard to win consistently.”

That’s true when it comes to gambling. This also applies to pretty much all Chicago sports teams, so to speak.

About the surveys:

Poll #1: Which team do you think would win Saturday’s game at Wrigley Field, Illinois or Northwestern?

Result: A 70-30 vote split in favor of the visiting Illini fits perfectly with the 70-30 vote split we’re sure to see in favor of the Illini.

Poll #2: Is Luke Richardson the right coach to make the Blackhawks a winner again?

Result: The Hawks went 26-49-7 and scored 59 points in Richardson’s first season. But then they got it together, going 23-53-6 for 52 points in his second season. Wait, is the second one worse than the first? Doesn’t matter.

Poll #3: How often do you bet on sports?

Result: Don’t worry about what others do, okay? They’re just worried about picking the 11-man game today, which will absolutely work out.