Week of 11/18 News & Games Thread

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Dan

Dan
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Dan
Welcome to the weekly (non-Illini) men's college basketball news & games thread.
 
#2      
Illini in Italy
Illini bball AND football in the same week!

Pizza Yes GIF
 
#3      
Fighter of the Nightman
Not sure where to put this, so apologies if it is in the wrong spot. I understand some fans are pretty stubborn about not liking any college sporting events played away from actual college campuses, and I do understand that. With that said, I always grew up thinking it was kind of cool that the Illini had at least two guaranteed games each year (Braggin' Rights and the annual UC game) in a neutral site environment that would be more similar to an NCAA Tournament setting. Even putting aside other arguments for the recruiting advantages of such setups, I really do think it can be helpful to get teams in that type of environment throughout the year ... everything from the feel of the rims to the dynamics of the crowd to the way your shoes would feel on the court is just a bit different, and it's nice to get some exposure.

With that said, I am ecstatic that our United Center game will be returning next year for a sure-to-be exciting rematch with Alabama. I look forward to an electric Illini crowd! I wanted to look at other Big Ten teams who are either (A) hosting a home game at a neutral site that is important to their program or (B) traveling to play another team in a similar setup. Thus, this excludes neutral site games at tournaments, as that is not really the same thing. I tried to distinguish, too, between what I saw as one team "hosting" the other (like Alabama/Illinois in Birmingham or even Auburn/OSU in Atlanta, as Auburn plays a game there every year) and what seemed more like an agreed-upon neutral setup (like Illinois/Missouri in St. Louis or Rutgers/Princeton in Newark). I also tried to roughly rank them in order of how big of a home court advantage they would be.

BIG TEN TEAMS AS HOSTS/CO-HOSTS
Michigan State hosting Oakland in Detroit, MI
Iowa hosting Washington State in Moline, IL
Nebraska hosting Saint Mary's in Sioux Falls, SD
Purdue hosting Texas A&M in Indianapolis, IN
UCLA hosting Gonzaga in Inglewood, CA (New Inuit Arena)
Penn State hosting Drexel in Philadelphia, PA (76ers arena)

Princeton vs. Rutgers in Newark, NJ
Indiana vs. Penn State in Philadelphia, PA (The Palestra)
Michigan State vs. Rutgers in New York, NY (Madison Square Garden)
Illinois vs. Missouri in St. Louis, MO (Braggin' Rights)

BIG TEN TEAMS AS VISITORS
Alabama hosting Illinois in Birmingham, AL
Auburn hosting Purdue in Birmingham, AL
Arizona hosting UCLA in Phoenix, AZ
Auburn hosting Ohio State in Atlanta, GA
Butler hosting Wisconsin in Indianapolis, IN (i.e., at the Pacers arena, not at Hinkle)
Syracuse hosting Maryland in New York, NY (Madison Square Garden)
Stanford hosting Oregon in San Jose, CA
Wake Forest hosting Michigan in Charlotte, NC

I'm sure there a lot more examples across the country, but it certainly seems like most programs see value in this idea. While I think most are won over that the Braggin' Rights setup is something way too perfect to mess with, I do recall resistance to bringing the United Center game back ... though this obviously faded as we got better!
 
#7      
RabidDawgClassic
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