Illini sports update
January 26, 2010 12:16 PM
So where were we?
- Basketball blew plenty of opportunities to extend the lead whilst up 49-41, then allowed Northwestern to score on 14-straight possessions and take the win Saturday. The Illini fall to 4-3 in the Big Ten after playing the league's easiest schedule thus far.
- Bruce Weber "punished" the Illini postgame by not making them available to the media.
- The team had a players-only meeting Sunday.
- Weber called a "do-over" on the captainships, will have the team vote on new team captains sometime soon.
- The players are made available to the media after practice Monday.
- The DIA sent off a Priority One executive order using the red pneumatic tube; Loren Tate dispatched a column instructing everyone to chill the !!!! out, and give Weber at least 2 more seasons.
- With football signing day a week away, Ron Zook, who was inexplicably not fired in December, is putting the finishing touches on the weakest class of the Big Ten.
- The Illini depart today to Pennsylvania, where they face winless Penn State Wednesday night, the same squad they beat two weeks ago in the most excruciating victory of all time.
- The exasperation, bewilderment, and frustration of Illini fans continues to ratchet up beyond the clouds as they deal with no football bowl and probably no NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998-99.
- After the next 3 "easy" contests (@PSU, IU, @Iowa), Illinois is realistically looking at an 8-game losing streak to close out the season.
- Barring a miracle in the BTT, the Illini will set a school record for consecutive seasons (four: 2007-2010) without winning an NCAA tournament game in the 64+ team era. A stunning collapse for a school that went 13-6 in the NCAAs from 2000-2006.
Dan
Filed under: Illini Basketball, Illini Football
