Tale of the tape
By: Amy F. Reiter
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Photo by: Darrell Hoemann
USC may have Tommy Trojan, but Illinois has the Alma Mater, which was decorated with 1,500 handmade roses by UI students working with art and design professor Jennifer Gunji in mid-December.
Though we won't know how the University of Illinois and the University of Southern California will match up on the field until New Year's Day, we put the two schools – and their surrounding communities – in a head-to-head comparison.
Let the CU-L.A. smackdown begin.
The school:
— Not including financial aid, UI students from Illinois pay $11,130 a year for tuition and fees.
USC students might well pay that on their parking spots – without financial aid, a year at the school in 2007-08 is $35,810.
— UI has 42,326 students and 2,971 faculty members.
USC has about 33,000 students and about 3,200 faculty.
— The larger-than-life Alma Mater graces the northwest corner of the UI campus and frequently gets adorned with extra-extra-large fanwear during big games. Its inscription reads: "To thy happy children of the future those of the past send greetings."
On the USC campus, "Tommy Trojan" – the nickname for a life-size Trojan warrior statue modeled after a few USC football players – is inscribed with the words: "Faithful, scholarly, skillful, courageous, ambitious."
— U.S. News and World Report last ranked UI as the 38th in the nation for universities.
USC ranked 27.
The team:
— USC has produced seven Heisman Trophy winners, including O.J. Simpson.
Illinois hasn't come close to winning the Heisman, but none of its stars has been part of a low-speed chase in a white Bronco.
— USC has won 11 national titles, including two since 2003.
Illinois won four titles ... including none since 1927.
— A 9-3 season at Illinois has fans going bonkers, the coaches getting raises and columnists singing praises.
A 10-2 season at USC has critics wondering if Pete Carroll's program is on the decline.
The town:
— The average Champaign home cost about $134,900, according to the 2006 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, kind of like the average Los Angeles ... bathroom.
An average home in L.A. County costs a whopping $574,100.
— After big wins, Illinois fans cause a traffic jam on Green Street.
After big wins, USC fans get stuck in a traffic jam on every street.
— We've got soy on the ground.
They've got smog in the air.
— L.A.'s got Paris Hilton and paparazzi.
And they can keep them, thank you very much.
— Champaign County's got a population of 185,682, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 estimate.
Los Angeles County is home to just a few ... or few million ... more than that, with 9,948,081 residents, according to the 2006 estimate.
— They've got the Academy Awards – more dresses and preshow drama.
We've got Roger Ebert's (formerly Overlooked) Film Festival – more popcorn and less thanking of agents.
— They've got Pink's Hot Dogs, In-N-Out Burger, Fatburger and Yoshinoya.
Despite our proximity to Chicago, we don't even have a Portillo's. What's up with that?
— We've got the occasional "W" on television screens warning us of a passing storm.
They've got Biblical floods, fires and mudslides.
Jim Rossow, Joel Leizer and Dian Strutz of The News-Gazette contributed to this report.