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Should Illinois extend Bill Cubit?

Interim Thumpasaurus breaks it down.

Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

The Illinois Fighting Illini, predicted by Vegas to get 3.5 wins even before Tim Beckman's firing, sit at 5-6 with a HAT showdown against Northwestern standing between them and bowl eligibility. Bill Cubit has helmed this team to greater glory than many of you on OTE thought possible. With a newly minted president, interim provost, interim chancellor and brand-new interim athletic director, turmoil engulfs everyone above Cubit organizationally, and he has done a commendable job of insulating the team from this turmoil. Though the results don't suggest they're a great team, they are very clearly a team, playing their hearts out on both sides of the ball.

However, though the effort has been there, the coaching has not been there. It's what 2015 would have shown us with or without Beckman: this coaching staff is not made up of good enough coaches to compete in the upper half of the conference, and that was laid bare for all the world to see yesterday. That was as good a game as the players have played this year, which means that game represented the ceiling of this team under Bill Cubit. And now that I've reached the minimum word threshold, it's time to answer the question. Should Illinois extend Bill Cubit?