With No. 2 seed, Illini won't be darkhorses this time around
March 9, 2009 12:13 AM
How to handicap the field? Put it this way. Michigan State won the league by four games, but the next seven teams were separated by no more than two. Illinois wasn't certain of its possible opponents until the final game of the regular season - Indiana at Wisconsin - was completed Sunday night. Most games in the regular season were tossups, and the tournament figures to show much of the same.
"Everyone's going to be tough. If you get Iowa, Iowa's going to be tough. If you get Michigan, Michigan's going to be tough," said Weber, whose 10th-seeded team made an unlikely run to the Big Ten title game last season. "All the games are going to be tough. I guess you could say Michigan State is the odds-on favorite.
"But we proved it last year. You can come from the bottom up and play for the championship. We told our guys, 'Look at what we did last year. You don't want to be on the other end.' Every game's going to be tough. It's going to be very competitive."
Klee
"Everyone's going to be tough. If you get Iowa, Iowa's going to be tough. If you get Michigan, Michigan's going to be tough," said Weber, whose 10th-seeded team made an unlikely run to the Big Ten title game last season. "All the games are going to be tough. I guess you could say Michigan State is the odds-on favorite.
"But we proved it last year. You can come from the bottom up and play for the championship. We told our guys, 'Look at what we did last year. You don't want to be on the other end.' Every game's going to be tough. It's going to be very competitive."
Klee
Filed under: Illini Basketball
