Welcome to The Champaign Room.

As many of you know, for the last several months SB Nation has been missing an Illinois blog. I'm pretty sure that was Eric Gordon's fault. Regardless, the drought is over. Today, Tom Fornelli, also of CBS Sports, begins The Champaign Room. While we (and they) may not have Bruce Weber to kick around anymore, we do now have an adversary for a Q&A regarding this weekend's matchup between the Hoosiers and the Illini, the crucial battle for sixth place in the Leaders Division.

IU and Illinois play each other every year in football, and have since 1995. In basketball, IU and Illinois regard each other as hated adversaries (calling it a "rivalry" might overstate the civility). Further, Hoosiers-Illini is, over the entire span of history, IU's most competitive series, with IU currently holding a one-game lead and with this season's only matchup occurring at the flying saucer-like structure that Illinois has the audacity to call "Assembly Hall."

In all seriousness, the University of Illinois has produced two of the finest sports bloggers of all time, Will Leitch and John Gasaway, so it's only fair that Illini fans and alumni have a school-specific blog to call home. Welcome, Tom!