Pregame: Illinois at Northwestern, Friday, December 6th, 8:00pm CT, BTN

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#101      
Fighter of the Nightman
thefalcon5 said:
Is there normally a section with mostly illlini fans? I’ve surprisingly never been to Welsh Ryan for a game, though I assume most sections have an abundance of us, figured I’d ask to see anyways.
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As others have said, there will be a lot of Illini fans in every section. However, if you REALLY want to be around only Illini fans, I would suggest the following (referencing the seating map below).

24-25-mbb-chart.webp


1. Anywhere in that 200-level will probably be at worst 50/50. The more the seats seem like nosebleeds, the more it will be just a straight-up Illini section.
2. If you want to sit in the lower bowl, the side that does NOT have the Wilson Club (i.e., 106-110) will probably have more Illini fans than the other side.
3. The students sit in those black areas behind each basket. So, if you would like be farther from their noise, I would avoid the corners! However, we sat behind the basket in (I think) 203 one year, and you would have hardly known they were underneath you.

ptgrd23 said:
Welsh Ryan is last of WW2 era field houses for B10 basketball. 7000 seats.

Great place to watch a game. Not a bad seat in the house.

When I attended Illinois in early 80's the others remaining were Michigan State 10,000 , Ohio State 14,000, Wisconsin 12,000
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Curious the last time you were there? I never attended the old Welsh-Ryan, but the new one doesn't seem to have much of a "fieldhouse" vibe anymore. It is still small and there isn't a bad seat in the house, but it has a very "spruced up" feel that seems to lack some of the character of an older gym. With that said, it IS indeed still quite unique within the Big Ten, and I highly recommend it as a place to watch the Illini! On this general note, too, my sister went to Butler ... and I literally cannot emphasize enough that anyone who gets the chance to ever see a game at Hinkle Fieldhouse simply has to.

OrangeBlue98 said:
The only advantage Northwestern has when Illinois plays at Welsh-Ryan is the student section and pep band. Other than that, it's no worse than a push in terms of fan support. In a lot of years, I'd even give the non-student advantage to Illinois. I expect that to be the case on Friday.
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I've been a few times, and these would be my guesses:

2018-19: Probably about 50/50 overall. We were bad, and the Bears actually played a home playoff game later that day.
2019-20: Not even kidding, at LEAST 70/30**** Illini ... maybe more. We were playing great and finally ranked again, and NU sucked.
2021-22: Pretty good turnout by NU for this one (especially the student section, which was VERY into it). However, overall, it was probably 55/45 Illini; but it was also difficult to tell because SO many Illini fans were wearing navy. By the way, this was Williams' put-back slam game!

**** For those who would like some delightful proof, this is the crowd for that 2020 game, lol...

ILL Crowd.jpg
 
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#103      
Bucktown
ptgrd23 said:
Welsh Ryan is last of WW2 era field houses for B10 basketball. 7000 seats.

Great place to watch a game. Not a bad seat in the house.

When I attended Illinois in early 80's the others remaining were Michigan State 10,000 , Ohio State 14,000, Wisconsin 12,000
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Although both a little bigger, Alaska Airlines Arena at Washington (Hec Edmundson Pavilion) and the Barn at Minnesota might also qualify.
 
#107      
jrichisamazing
21ChampaignSt said:
IMO, this isn't really close to a "must win". If we lose, it's just a Q1 loss, of which we're bound to have several.

It's all the games after this one that will determine our season.
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Add in the fact that the conference doesn't really have a frontrunner this year....yeah it's definitely not a must win.

Last year everyone was trying to keep up with Purdue, so every single loss felt crippling. This year it will be different. I wouldn't be surprised if we go into the last couple weeks of the season and there are still 5 or 6 teams with a chance to win the conference.
 
#108      
thefalcon5
Fighter of the Nightman said:
As others have said, there will be a lot of Illini fans in every section. However, if you REALLY want to be around only Illini fans, I would suggest the following (referencing the seating map below).

24-25-mbb-chart.webp


1. Anywhere in that 200-level will probably be at worst 50/50. The more the seats seem like nosebleeds, the more it will be just a straight-up Illini section.
2. If you want to sit in the lower bowl, the side that does NOT have the Wilson Club (i.e., 106-110) will probably have more Illini fans than the other side.
3. The students sit in those black areas behind each basket. So, if you would like be farther from their noise, I would avoid the corners! However, we sat behind the basket in (I think) 203 one year, and you would have hardly known they were underneath you.


Curious the last time you were there? I never attended the old Welsh-Ryan, but the new one doesn't seem to have much of a "fieldhouse" vibe anymore. It is still small and there isn't a bad seat in the house, but it has a very "spruced up" feel that seems to lack some of the character of an older gym. With that said, it IS indeed still quite unique within the Big Ten, and I highly recommend it as a place to watch the Illini! On this general note, too, my sister went to Butler ... and I literally cannot emphasize enough that anyone who gets the chance to ever see a game at Hinkle Fieldhouse simply has to.


I've been a few times, and these would be my guesses:

2018-19: Probably about 50/50 overall. We were bad, and the Bears actually played a home playoff game later that day.
2019-20: Not even kidding, at LEAST 70/30**** Illini ... maybe more. We were playing great and finally ranked again, and NU sucked.
2021-22: Pretty good turnout by NU for this one (especially the student section, which was VERY into it). However, overall, it was probably 55/45 Illini; but it was also difficult to tell because SO many Illini fans were wearing navy. By the way, this was Williams' put-back slam game!

**** For those who would like some delightful proof, this is the crowd for that 2020 game, lol...

View attachment 37810
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Appreciate all the info!!!
 
#116      
ptgrd23
Collins has done very well. The NW trap was only way to beat Edey in past 2 years. Clever gimmick defense to make up for lack of talent.

I am optimistic with the great size on this team KJ 6'6" and Riley 6'8", extra PG on floor in Kylan, and good passing big in Tomas that we will blow up the trap this year. Assuming NW does not shoot 60% from 3pt we should be in good shape.
 
#124      
illinifan1987
Since I haven't seen this posted on here yet, here's some interesting info. The Illini-Arkansas game was the second highest watched NCAAB game since 2008! 5.1 million viewers tuned in. It's second only behind the Arizona game last Thanksgiving. That's a lot of eyes on our program :cool:
 
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