Zain Bando covers college sports as a freelance writer for The Sporting News. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.
Bando focuses on Big Ten athletics as his primary beat. He’s covered Illinois, Northwestern, and Kansas State sports programs over the years.
Beyond college sports, he writes about MMA and boxing for MMA Knockout On Sports Illustrated.
Bando hosts two weekly podcasts through the Empty The Bench Podcast Network. Bando’s Breakdowns and The MMA Outsiders air on YouTube and podcast platforms Tuesday nights and Wednesday afternoons.
The Chicago suburban native holds memberships in the Football Writers Association of America and the United States Basketball Writers Association.
Since June 2019, his work has appeared across multiple platforms. These include MSN, Yardbarker, Deadspin, FanSided, BJPenn.com, Bridge Media Network, Mike Farrell Sports, and Reuters.
When he’s not working, Bando watches classic UFC fights and spends time with family. He’s memorized every Super Bowl and plans future travel destinations while keeping his laptop close by.
