Illinois, New Mexico State to play at the United Center next season

[Ransom Stoddard]

#14 Seed in the NCAA tournament
RPI: 60
BPI: 98
Kenpom: 88
Sagarin: 97

We should be getting a better team than this to come to Chicago.

Agree, but baby steps. Hopefully they'll tout it as the "Henson Classic" for that year (hopefully Lou is still able to make the game), make a big deal about it, and then move back up to bigger fish.

The Duke matchup in '94 was one for the ages. It would be great to get back to that level of opponent, not to mention the caliber of play.

 

[mattcoldagelli]

We should be getting a better team than this to come to Chicago.

But can we?

And right now, threading the needle between "team that is good enough to be a draw" and "team that won't beat us handily" is not the easiest thing in the world.

I saw this and jumped to the same conclusion Ransom Stoddard did, which was that if we need a punching bag at the UC, at least we got one that we can turn into a bigger deal and tie it to our history.

 

[Second and Chalmers]

And right now, threading the needle between "team that is good enough to be a draw" and "team that won't beat us handily" is not the easiest thing in the world.

Take the beating or play in Champaign.

Getting turned over by 20 with a full house beats the embarrassment of a ghost town in the UC every day of the week.

 

[mattcoldagelli]

Getting turned over by 20 with a full house beats the embarrassment of a ghost town in the UC every day of the week.

It's the proverbial Lindsey Graham "get shot or get poisoned" scenario, but at least the latter doesn't give another program a platform to style all over us in our most important alumni base and recruiting ground.

 

[Second and Chalmers]

It's the proverbial Lindsey Graham "get shot or get poisoned" scenario, but at least the latter doesn't give another program a platform to style all over us in our most important alumni base and recruiting ground.

If it's Kansas, Kentucky or Duke and they're going to steal all of your recruits while doing it, I can see the downside.

If it's like Florida or Arizona or something, take your licks, give your fans a show, collect your ticket money and build to that level.

Fear should not governing principle here.