Its been an awfully bad week for Illinois, losing not only to Indiana but to our 4th straight Big Ten game. Many of us feel, (myself included) that things really can't get any worse this season. Many people want to make the next logical jump and assume then that Ron Zook has more then likely already lost his job.

But people let me tell you, firing a coach is a hell of a lot more complicated than that. Performance aside, Zook still has a lot on his side when it comes to keeping his job after the end of this season.

For one the school is not exactly flush with money right now, the state budget shortfalls have been passed along to the school, and may not be in any position to buy out the remainder of Zook's contract. The contract of course was extended just this last off season to the year 2014. At 1.5 million, counting this season's salary, I believe it would take 7.5 million dollars to buy out the entirety his contract. Of course the hiring of a new coach would then result in at least another million dollars per year.

This is no small amount of cash. Its a financial decision that would involve more than just the athletic department. That is where this summer's series of scandals really comes into play. The entire Board of Trustees has been replaced based on the clout scandal, along with the resignation of University President White, and now just this week Chancellor Herman. There is an entirely new board and a temporary president, but at this point none of them may feel comfortable enough making a major decision like firing the football coach at this time.

Even if this Illini team doesn't win another game this season, the decision more than likely will still come down to money. Many of the games this year sold a lot of tickets ahead of time, when the expectations for the Illini this season were very high, so at this point I don't see too much of a drop off in tickets sales for this season. But, no matter how the Illini finish this season, I very much doubt that you will see any games sold out for next season. It was after all the season after his 1-11 season that sealed Ron Turner's fate several years ago. When the fans stopped showing up and the school was not making money on the team, that's when the trigger was pulled.

And that's why I think that this might not be Ron Zook's final season after all. Many of the tickets have already been sold for this season, so its tough to say that we are losing alot of money this season. Just like Turner I have a feeling Zook will get another year after the first rough season before anyone finds the financial justification to make a move. Don't assume quite yet that Zook's time in Champaign is over.