Maybe it's just because I'm going, but I am quite nervous about this one. It really is the type of game you just want to win and get over with; there is just the 19th win to gain and A LOT to lose. I fear that the soldout crowd might pump up the NU players in a way they haven't been in past games, and this could lead to an intense and close game ... never good news when you're on the road. NU hasn't filled more than 75% of its seats in any home game since the conference season started, and this will be a very different atmosphere. The StubHub prices alone signify this will be a packed house. We need to bring the energy from start to finish. We are much more talented than NU, but we need to show up and be ready to go from tipoff.
What I'm hoping will give our guys a lift is the semi-friendly crowd. I saw a pretty good post on the NU board that estimated the average visitor fan turnout at Welsh-Ryan is 30-35% or around there of the other team's fans. I'd estimate that is what we had last year. Between us having a good year, them having a bad year and high StubHub prices likely meaning that tickets that previously belonged to NU fans are being sold to Illini fans, I honestly think we could have the
majority of the crowd, possibly even pushing it to 60/40. Combine that with a possible Krush trip, and I REALLY hope this pumps the boys up. I know NU isn't exactly a juggernaut this year, but we better play a few "Chicago's Big Ten Team" clips before the game. If I saw that as a player and got riled up and then came out of the tunnel to see Chicago's true team painting the house orange, I'd be pumped.