Illinois or Northwestern? Voters picked the team they hope will win Saturday at Wrigley Field

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

In this week’s “Polling Place,” your home for Sun-Times sports polls on the social platform X, we asked which team you’d rather see win the battle for the “Hat” trophy.

“It means more for Illinois,” wrote @JeffreyCanalia, referencing the Illini’s 8-3 record and opportunity to get into a New Year’s 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 rebuild coach. He’s a win-now coach.”

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

Last, we asked how often you’ve been betting on sports.

“Much, much less often than in 2020-21,” @DeyoSahler wrote. “It’s so difficult to win consistently.”

That’s true in gambling. It’s also true for pretty much all Chicago sports teams, just saying.

On to the polls:

Poll No. 1: Which team would you rather see win Saturday’s game at Wrigley Field, Illinois or Northwestern?

Upshot: A 70-30 vote split in favor of the visiting Illini goes perfectly with the 70-30 crowd split we’re bound to see in favor of the Illini.

Poll No. 2: Is Luke Richardson the right coach to help make the Blackhawks winners again?

Upshot: The Hawks went 26-49-7 for 59 points in Richardson’s first season. But then they got it together and went 23-53-6 for 52 points in his second season. Wait, is the second one worse than the first one? Never mind.

Poll No. 3: How often are you betting on sports?

Upshot: Don’t worry about what others are doing, OK? You just worry about picking that 11-team parlay today that’s totally going to come in.