I agree with you on St. Mary's.
My NCAA bracket from last year (and recent years) wants to argue for the PAC 12 teams. The Big Ten needs to grow a set this year.
2/28 Polls & Bracketology - Illinois #20 in AP Poll
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My NCAA bracket from last year (and recent years) wants to argue for the PAC 12 teams. The Big Ten needs to grow a set this year.
No factor if we make BTT championship
Thanks for that. I hadn't thought of that game in a while. Special group of players.
Well look at this.. I wonder how many years this has been going on.
I have never heard any coach/program put in a request for the NCAA tournament like this. I am going to be rooting for any team playing Duke the entire tournament. Not that I wasn't before but I really hate everything about them.
I mean I think this only comes into play if they end up with a 1 seed honestly but it would still be annoying. Gonzaga goes West. Arizona goes South. And then if they sent Auburn/KU/UK to the East so Duke could get the Midwest, I think I’d riot. Or magically get a 2 seed in the Midwest and can tell the committee skipped the 1-68 order
The F#$&.
Is this even a thing? Would a request like this ever be considered?
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
Think about it.....the most bluest blood team with the most celebrated coach in history feels entitled to call in his last favor since he's on his 'celebrate me' tour. The Committee is spineless and will find a way to grant his wish
I love it. My brother and I were on one of the corners just a few rows up. We were some of the only orange in the arena. The Gonzaga priest even came up and blessed us before the game. That was before our boys went all unholy on GU. They have only lost in the Kennel like 9 times and Illinois and Michigan State hold two of those defeats. They need more big time programs to come in and upset the apple cart a few times. I think this was the same year BP went off for 43 pts against Ohio State at home. He was very capable of that on any given night.
Thanks for the memorable video! Go Illini !
Was this the game with the Gonzaga air guitar bench player that was a go to gif on loyalty for a few years???
Yes it was. Unfortunately for GU, BP shattered their guitar into a million little Bulldog tears.
the national
- the Front Range
You lucky dog!! That would have been one hell of a game to witness live.btw, I was at the Kennel when the 2012 Illini team came in and thrashed Gonzaga 84-73. Brandon Paul went off for 35 pts. It was an amazing game for Illinois. We then went on to go 9-9 in the Big Ten and Gonzaga was a #1 seed - go figure.
the national
- the Front Range
Thank you for posting this! I had to go back and look up the roaster (couldn’t remember who 20 was [Myke Henry]). Looking at the collection of talent, it’s unbelievable we barely squeaked into the tournament and only finished 8-10 in conf with 23-13 record. At one point we had a 1-6 stretch in the middle of the conf after starting the season 12-0 and ranked 10.
I wish we could have had Underwood coach that team. Minus Tracy, the rest of that team was long and fairly athletic (and Tracy was a bull dog). I bet Underwood could have made that season special (a man can dream
)Whitmans Sampler
- Eastern Iowa
Absolutely. Been to a few of their home games this year.
IMO there are 3 teams that we can't beat when they are at their best...Gonzaga, Purdue, and Arizona. So avoiding those teams would be great.
Second, I think our biggest weakness is playing against a team that gets hot and we don't know how to stop it. All of our losses in the B1G came to teams with significantly better offense than defense. Purdue, OSU, and Maryland for sure. And you might argue that Rutgers is defensive minded, but if you look at their stats during their winning streak their offense was on fire and carrying them. And even games against Michigan and MSU should have been easier wins, but their offenses started rolling and we couldn't stop it.
So I'm hoping to get matched up with teams that have a significantly better D than O. I think we can manufacture enough points to beat this teams while not needing to worry about them getting hot offensively. These teams fit the criteria...Texas Tech, Tennessee, Texas, LSU, Saint Mary's, Arkansas, San Fran, SDSU, and Boise St.
Second, I think our biggest weakness is playing against a team that gets hot and we don't know how to stop it. All of our losses in the B1G came to teams with significantly better offense than defense. Purdue, OSU, and Maryland for sure. And you might argue that Rutgers is defensive minded, but if you look at their stats during their winning streak their offense was on fire and carrying them. And even games against Michigan and MSU should have been easier wins, but their offenses started rolling and we couldn't stop it.
So I'm hoping to get matched up with teams that have a significantly better D than O. I think we can manufacture enough points to beat this teams while not needing to worry about them getting hot offensively. These teams fit the criteria...Texas Tech, Tennessee, Texas, LSU, Saint Mary's, Arkansas, San Fran, SDSU, and Boise St.
The only one I truly think we can’t beat is Purdue. They have the one guy who can both score 1v1 on kofi and stop him 1v1. Then they have too much shooting around him and IMO Ivey is the best player in college basketball.
Arizona is hard but I think they’re more beatable for us than Purdue.
Honestly Gonzaga kofi can guard Timme 1v1 imo and then we gotta cover shooters. Similar to what we did against Michigan last year with Dickinson. Holmgren is obviously their X factor but usually one guy can go off if you contain the others like you should.
Obviously all easier said than done.
We haven't yet, but we are absolutely capable of beating Purdue. I hope we get the chance to find out.
I agree. In general, I think taking a team to OT shows that you CAN beat them. We were also up 9 at their place before the wheels fell off. At this point, I hope we see them next Saturday.
I think we can beat them, but it's a bad matchup. Our current offensive scheme is to force the ball down low for Kofi to either 1) go to work, or 2) pass out for a 3 if he gets double teamed. Edey has shown he can stifle Kofi 1-on-1 to an extent. If we were to win, I think we would need to change our offensive scheme for more pick and roll. Get Edey out from under the basket and attack the basket with guards and perimeter movement.
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
That's where Hawkins comes into play. If he's who he's been the past few games, I think we could give Purdue fits.
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