They should have known better...Someone who picked us to beat KY literally had every previous game selected correctly. And of course this would happen to us man … only Illinois.
Final Perfect Bracket Topples After Kentucky Defeats Illinois in Round of 32
Kentucky's win over Illinois saw the final perfect bracket fall.www.si.com
Kentucky 84, Illinois 75 Postgame
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So jealous of teams like Purdue and Michigan state that have awesome x and o coaches.
I hate that he is saying this....just bite your tongue.
Looking on the bright side…we are positioned well for next year. I was too harsh on Kylan and am proud of that kid for finding his footing here. We not only have a really solid guard coming back…we have a leader. This is HIS team now. I do not think it’s an overstatement to say Tomi & Morez can be one of the better front courts in the country. If Tre wants to run it back, amazing.
It’s on Brad to put the right pieces around those guys. Please please PLEASE get rid of you-know -who and upgrade the staff.
I would think building a roster is partly random .We know from the past few years, you don’t always get your first choice. There is only so much NIL money to go around and you aren’t the only bidder for players. If an insider is saying Underwood had better options available, I’m in position to argue.
Covid probably was one of our best years. Also the restrictions for the following year with limited fans can’t be oversold
BU early seasons we were a dumpster fire prior to him taking over without the portal rules now
We had a 20+ win season - hit
Exceed preseason ranking - about even pre season ranked 26 made round of 32
Receive first round by in BTT - hit
This was an ok year not great because of some of the misses you highlighted but it was successful.
Ayo came back because he was only going to be a 2nd round pick. NIL is bringing guys like that back now instead of them going pro but 1st round picks are leaving regardless.
Who needs it?
Without the silly NIL rules, we would have been reloading this season after a great run last year. I miss the days we could just give Deon an SUV and play hoops.
We really missed having players who had played for the Illini in years prior. Ty quits on the team just before the season starts and DGL gives up towards the end. We are NOT every day guys at all. Hopeful BamBam can provide the leadership we missed this year.
About the season we all expected. This team could beat anyone any game, or get smoked by 20 as well. I like how we fought back. A couple of those 3s to fall in the last 5 minutes (especially White's 3 from the corner that rimmed out that would have cut the lead to 5) and we might be looking forward to redemption against the Vols and rooting for the Boilers...
We really missed having players who had played for the Illini in years prior. Ty quits on the team just before the season starts and DGL gives up towards the end. We are NOT every day guys at all. Hopeful BamBam can provide the leadership we missed this year.
About the season we all expected. This team could beat anyone any game, or get smoked by 20 as well. I like how we fought back. A couple of those 3s to fall in the last 5 minutes (especially White's 3 from the corner that rimmed out that would have cut the lead to 5) and we might be looking forward to redemption against the Vols and rooting for the Boilers...
sacraig
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Found Pru's bracket.
I have not read any replies to this statement so I'm sorry if this is repeated. That being said, the season is a C, anytime you make the tourney it's average. Not making the tourney then a D, below .500 is an F in my book.
This year just seems kind of meh. Not an outright failure but not a success either. No regular season/conference accolades while finishing 7th in conference(was a very winnable conference imo) and only a 2nd round appearance
Honestly, still kind of leaves a bitter taste in my mouth because of how winnable this game was. A sweet 16 berth against a very beatable Tennessee team(should have beat them at home) and they just failed to capitalize on the opportunity.
Really Illinois got as as good of a bracket draw as you could have asked for this year in stark contract to last year where they were a final four caliber team that drew UConn. Extremely beatable 2 and 3 seeds in Tennessee and Kentucky. The worst 1 seed in Houston where Illinois would have had a huge size advantage and a 4 seed in Purdue that the Illini were just better then.
I understand it's March and a single elimination tournament where anything can happen but everything played out perfectly to make a run if they just showed up to play.
I'm sure we can find someone better in the portal than another year of Ben. Actually WAY better.
At this point, I think it's a fair concern how Brad has performed in short rest tourney games. While I agree he has faced some very tough matchups, at some point you need to step up and win one as a coach or at the very least overperform in the matchup. Whether it's preparedness, advanced scout schedule, assistants, gameday prep, pregame and halftime motivation, in game adjustments, there's a very strong argument that some extreme introspection and changes are needed here as Brad's overall record in these short turnaround games has just simply not been good enough. To summarize:
2025: vKentucky- Projected 85-84 Win, result: 84-75 Loss (-10 vs predicted)
2024: vUCONN- Projected 82-76 Loss, result: 77-52 Loss (-19 vs predicted)
2024: vDuquesne- Projected 80-70 Win, result: 89-63 Win (+16 vs predicted)
2022: vHouston- Projected 70-65 Loss, result: 68-53 Loss (-10 vs predicted)
2021: vLoyola- Projected 69-65 Win, result: 71-58 Loss (-17 vs predicted)
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2016: vNotre Dame- Projected 71-69 SFA Win, result: 76-75 Loss (-3 vs predicted)
2014: vUCLA- Projected 75-70 Loss, result: 77-60 Loss (-12 vs predicted)
Brad's expected record in his NCAA short turnaround games is 4-3. He's 1-6. His median result is 10 points worse than the game line. And not only that, outside of the Duquesne game, almost every single game his team has played in the tourney on short rest has scored over 10pts less than they were expected to while the defense performed to about season average. This suggests that there might be an issue with the implementation of the offensive gameplan, whether that be not a good enough scout or ability to break down opponents on short rest or too much predictability.
All in all, I think it is fair at this point to question Brad's performance in these games and it's something he's going to need to find answers to, because even when you play good competition, you still shouldn't have your team almost exclusively underperforming by double digits. At some point it's no longer a fluke, and I think we're right about at that point.
Actually, you don't even need to look in the portal. Just send some scouts over to IMPE.
This year it's really the portal that let us down. I mean Jake Davis is who he's expected to be, but that's not the ideal player if you wanna be a championship contender. And then you add Ben and Booth on top of that.
It makes me wonder what happened with some of our transfer targets because we had other targets that went elsewhere. Not enough NIL or what?
It makes me wonder what happened with some of our transfer targets because we had other targets that went elsewhere. Not enough NIL or what?
I was flabbergasted. I know I’m not a basketball expert, but I’m watching the refs do this fine tooth comb analysis of whether the ball skimmed his leg when it went out of bounds when it should have been entirely moot.
The TV guys kept running the tape over and over again and talking about where the ball went. The elephant in the room was wholly unremarked…except by Brad who was going ballistic on the sidelines making hit-his-arm gestures.
And then giving the ball to Kentucky. What a momentum switcher.
And then you saw the same play happen around the same time in the Michigan State game... only the refs called the foul.
A couple of comments. 1) I'm no bball expert, but I can't see KB as a high draft pick. He's soft, turnover prone and will get eaten alive in the NBA. He needs to get fletched, work endlessly on his handles and send a lot of time learning the game on this side of the pond.
2) WR needs to fletch and mature mentally. I believe he would be better served staying. He would be in essentially the same position as LeBron (age and experience-wise, but I don't think he's Lebron.
3) Kentucky had fewer returning players than we did, yet they beat us soundly, so while I personally favor player continuity, I think coaching continuity is more critical. When was the last time Brad carried over 90% of his staff?
4) I agree that the player make up was flawed. Is this a symptom of the staff instability?
5) BH was such a reach in terms of his experience in playing at D1 level, let alone the B1G. Did they think that his age (experience) was to be the leadership that would mentor the young guys? Or was it that staff really believe that his game would translate with such a huge jump in level of play? I would really like to know the real justification with him.
6) I really feel that this was a lost opportunity this year, and that's what I find so disappointing.
ILL.
2) WR needs to fletch and mature mentally. I believe he would be better served staying. He would be in essentially the same position as LeBron (age and experience-wise, but I don't think he's Lebron.
3) Kentucky had fewer returning players than we did, yet they beat us soundly, so while I personally favor player continuity, I think coaching continuity is more critical. When was the last time Brad carried over 90% of his staff?
4) I agree that the player make up was flawed. Is this a symptom of the staff instability?
5) BH was such a reach in terms of his experience in playing at D1 level, let alone the B1G. Did they think that his age (experience) was to be the leadership that would mentor the young guys? Or was it that staff really believe that his game would translate with such a huge jump in level of play? I would really like to know the real justification with him.
6) I really feel that this was a lost opportunity this year, and that's what I find so disappointing.
ILL.
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