Number One, and Lovin' It
December 6, 2004 2:24 PM
The suspense is over. Illinois made the huge #5-to-#1 leap in the AP basketball poll (and easily went from #3 to #1 in the ESPN/USA Today poll). It is well known that college football and basketball polls have exponentially different scales of importance attached to them with regard to postseason placement. In football, you need to beg for every last vote to lockup a sweet bowl bid. In basketball, most teams even flirting with the Top 25 will get a shot at glory in the big tourney. Your location in the poll doesn't count for much. But #1 is still special.
Illinois last enjoy the #1 ranking for a single solitary week in 1989. The Illini, playing their first game during Kendall Gill's injury hiatus, were downed at Minnesota in a contest that is still fondly remembered by fans for its
On paper (or pixels), Illinois should be unblemished when they visit Wisconsin. In reality, every game is a potential grind-it-out struggle a-la Arkansas. Especially road games, as the Illini will execute a Wake Forest role reversal when it travels to Georgetown Thursday (and Purdue, and Northwestern, and Wiscy, and MSU....).
So here's to being #1! First challenge is to make it one week without a loss, something no other Illini team has been able to do. Filed under: Illini Basketball
