Pregame: Illinois vs North Carolina, Saturday, September 10th, 6:30pm CT, BTN

[IlliniBus]

Yep, right after I posted it came on. Picked Illinois, but I didn't catch if it was outright or with the +7.5. Either way, he said he "liked the Illini."

 

[uofi09]

Yep, right after I posted it came on. Picked Illinois, but I didn't catch if it was outright or with the +7.5. Either way, he said he "liked the Illini."

It was outright.
Also during the game pick section, Lee was the only to pick Illinois.

 

[IlliniBus]

Just came up on the picks too. Desmond wanted to pick Illinois "because of Lovie," but went with UNC. Dale Earnhardt Jr. went with UNC, but he's from there so it's a homer pick. Lee went with the Bear and Illinois. Kirk picked UNC without much explanation.

 

[Kramer116]

Is it confirmed we are the main game on BTN tonight? I'll be at a wedding tonight in Denver so will try to get it on the tv but worst case can stream it on my phone.

 

[ZeroDarkThirsty]

 

[Dan]

Is it confirmed we are the main game on BTN tonight? I'll be at a wedding tonight in Denver so will try to get it on the tv but worst case can stream it on my phone.

I believe it depends on which provider you'll get.
http://btn.com/btn-gamefinder/

 

[FT35]

i was at the ASU game in 2011 and it was great time. really felt like the program was on the rise. hope for the same feeling tonight

I was there with my foreign born cousin who wouldn't know a football from a hockey puck and even he had fun at that game. He had to ask me a few times about the rules but I think he could pick up when something good happened tfor Illinois.

I also remember our Dline and how they kept getting to the 6'8 QB. I really miss Whitney.

I've had season tickets for ten years and that's my favorite home game during that time period, with the exception of the of the '07 games against PSU and Wisconsin.

 

[FT35]

No kidding. I'm sick of looking at photos of that pitiful "Stripe The Stadium" game (I wanna say 2011 vs OSU?).

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

The funny/sad thing is that that game wasn't even a sellout. Illinois was 6-0 and ranked 15th in the country and couldn't even sellout a game against OSU.

Although in all fairness, I had a bad feeling about that game and it wasn't a fun game to watch at all. I think they did a high resolution 360 degree photo of all of the sections at halftime, and when I saw the picture of the section I was in, it looks like I wanted to hang myself. The score at halftime was 3-3. The wind tunnel was in full effect for that game and I think Braxton Miller only had four pass attempts for the entire game.

The nice thing about the renovations is that the stands look full with a crowd of 55,000 plus. It's only really noticeable that it's not a sellout if there are some empty seats in the NEZ. Contrast that with the 90s when the upper decks looked very empty with crowds of around 50,000.

 

[OrangeSoda]

Watching Georgia struggle with Nicholls is giving me some more confidence in the Illini.

 

[ZeroDarkThirsty]

Notre Dame beat Texas 38-3 last year. Strong changed things up and got the Win for Texas against the Irish last week. I wont be surprised if llinois destroys the Tar Heels today.

 

[IlliniGuy108]

Watching Georgia struggle with Nicholls is giving me some more confidence in the Illini.

Georgia ran for 120 more yards against UNC than against Nichols

 

[SalukiIllini]

Notre Dame beat Texas 38-3 last year. Strong changed things up and got the Win for Texas against the Irish last week. I wont be surprised if llinois destroys the Tar Heels today.

Illinois would be impossible to scout. They probably barely opened the playbook last week.

 

[FeelYourPaign]

Any comments from someone on the ground about the crowd, the energy, etc?

 

[FatGreg]

Illinois would be impossible to scout. They probably barely opened the playbook last week.

Yeah, a team's best bet would be to watch UAB during McGee's brief tenure and Arkansas in 2010 and 2011. Even then, not much to go on: different personnel, several years of strategic refinement, input from Lovie, etc. We're a complete mystery right now. Hopefully that gives us a leg up for at least the next few weeks.