Pregame: Illinois at Purdue, Saturday, January 24th, 2:00pm CT, FOX

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#76      
Kernal12
Back to the topic at hand ... Purdue.

My concern is that Braden Smith is going to hound Keaton like he's never been hounded before, and we don't have a secondary ball handler in Bam to ease some of that pressure. Our freshman -- heck, all of our guys -- have never experienced a crowd as hostile as Mackey. Playing with house money so it will be fun to see if we can handle the heat.
 
#77      
Vinegarben
Mackey is a tough place to play, The fans are loud and vocal, Purdue is good and respond well to them. I have watched Purdue play several times over the years and they tend to get most of the calls their way. I am not sure how the Illini respond in this BIG time game without our leader. We will need to shoot well, make free throws, rebound and keep Smith from going off and Purdue from going on runs, If the Illini can do this I think we pull out a close win 85-81
 
#79      
illinoistradition
Fighter of the Nightman said:
This is a very valid point for that sideline, and I am sympathetic to the idea that you just can't replicate how cool it was to have the Krush literally standing on the court. I suppose we could have done a setup like Duke where the TV camera does not look at the benches, and we could have tried to keep the Krush on the floor opposite the benches like they used to be. However, whatever we lost on the non-TV sideline, I would argue this is a pretty huge improvement on the opposite side. At least IMO, the setup on TV is vastly superior ... it used to drive me nuts to have the national audience see the giant unused space before A Section and then a bunch of unused gray seats.

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Also, does anyone know how many Krush students are around the court now? I would honestly be shocked if it was fewer than before the renovation.


I'm sympathetic to the idea of looking back at the Glory Days with rose-tinted glasses, and there were certainly probably random games in that era where the Hall seemed dead. However, there are a lot of games available on YouTube from many years. I would argue there is pretty clear evidence that our home court atmosphere, specifically the Krush, has objectively declined. The only game in this great 2020-2026 stretch where I thought to myself, "Wow, this place is rocking like the mid-2000s!" was the 2021-22 home loss to #11 Arizona. Kind of hilariously, I figured out that was a Krush "alumni" game. :ROFLMAO:

The parts of your post I will agree with is that (A) Illini fans are certainly some of the best around in terms of our loyalty and passion for the program, and (B) SFC indeed can still get really loud and be very intimidating. However, I definitely think our consistency has slipped mightily.
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I would be shocked too. There was an entire section of level C that was Krush overflow. I don't think they still have that, do they?
 
#80      
Second place is 1st loser
Mistakenj said:
I was in school then, and we were routinely voted a top 5 home atmosphere (in the nation)….what changed?????
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Students today are on their phones during the middle of the game. A lot has changed over the years and it's not just technology. Students have found other things to do that creates instant gratification. Now, staying at their apartments/dorms and hanging out seem more fun and are much cheaper. In general, people from 5-25 just stay at home. How many kids do you see in your subdivision, yards, etc out just playing a pickup game of baseball, basketball or football? I'm "only" 48, but we lived to be outside, hanging with friends. Going to a Friday night HS football game or basketball game was a fun and planned thing to do. It's just not the case anymore.

I remember days where lines would be around the stadium for students fighting to get in the building. It's just not the same and it's noticeable. It's not just us that has the issue.

Add in the fact that most students, who aren't basketball psychos like those of us here, can't identify with the team anymore. It's 60% different every year.
 
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#81      
Sheldon Ram
blackdog said:
I know Maryland is not good but the atmosphere last night was.....boring. Last two games haven't even been close to capacity either. We are in serious danger of losing our reputation as a tough place to play. The fact that Illinois athletics has started using an MC on the floor to get people hyped up throughout the game is kind of sad.
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Death, Taxes and people complaining about our crowd. I was on floor level last night an it was very loud
 
#82      
Illiniguy13
Bucktown said:
That doesn’t explain why Purdue and MSU are still so loud.
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Not sure if anyone noticed - but the SF stadium announcers have been more active about getting fans to chant on defense and get loud when it calls for it. I've had a theory for awhile now that a significant portion of Krush, for whatever reason, don't have the same level of basketball knowledge as others. I genuinely appreciate they show up and cheer. We need that. You can just tell there is a fundamental lack of understanding of when to get loud
 
#83      
Sheldon Ram
I agree. Death, taxes and people complaining about our crowd. I was on floor level last night and it got loud
 
#84      
Second place is 1st loser
Compared to what? A game against Fairleigh Dickinson? What people are saying is that not many years back, the fans(especially the student section) would blow the roof off the joint. It was a legitimate home court advantage and an intimidating place for opponents to walk into. That's not the case anymore.

When you say it's loud, it's loud because you have 12,000-15,000 people in an enclosed space. What people are talking about here is 15,000 totally engaged and students going absolutely bananas from the top.

I've been to a lot of games between then and now and it's not nearly the same. Pick whatever reason you want, but it's just not.
 
#87      
21ChampaignSt
#88      
mattcoldagelli
blackdog said:
I know Maryland is not good but the atmosphere last night was.....boring. Last two games haven't even been close to capacity either. We are in serious danger of losing our reputation as a tough place to play. The fact that Illinois athletics has started using an MC on the floor to get people hyped up throughout the game is kind of sad.
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“In danger of losing?” It is lost, man. We are worse at home than we are on the road.

Our home crowds are extremely mid, I don’t get it.
 
#89      
okrush
That’s a true bummer to hear. I was in Orange Krush from 2005-2008. You couldn’t be there to simply watch the game but you had a true part to play to make some real noise. Something needs to happen to fix it and make clear to the fans their role to play in these games.
 
#90      
ChiefGritty
I feel like I would normally be on the other side of this argument, but I really do feel people are anchoring their expectation on crowd noise at an unreasonable level here.

I was at every game from 2006-2012, there were sleepy games and raucous ones back then too.

Our games at Mackey since Covid have all been top 10 matchups (I think?). Of course that's a different level than us playing Maryland at home on a Wednesday night.

All of the Big Ten arenas of the schools that really care about basketball are rocking venues on their day.
 
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#91      
Illinisnake
I remember old college basketball games on Playstation had the Illini has one of the toughest places to play, always loved that. Now it's a ghost town.

I love going back and watching that Wake Forest game, there wasn't a better crowd than that. Absolute maniacs.
 
#92      
Big Jack
mattcoldagelli said:
“In danger of losing?” It is lost, man. We are worse at home than we are on the road.

Our home crowds are extremely mid, I don’t get it.
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You sir are correct, I honestly thought the crowd level of excitement and engagement last night was horrible. I was able to sit close to the floor last night and there were a whole lot of open seats up in the 200 level and also in the 100s. Hospitality booths are nice but that is a lot of wasted space as no one even pays attention to the game. They are all about socializing and drinking honestly. Hell the Krush couldn't even get the banner up right in the 2nd half. Said it before but our house is mild now with all of the changes and the students buy tickets and don't come to the games. Shame on them.
 
#93      
217sports
Assembly hall was always sort of meh for most games and got up for big games. I remember before the remodel that there were a ton of complaints about the olds not cheering. That has not changed post stadium remodel. OK has definitely gotten quieter over the years, but I am sure that most fan bases would say the same.

The in-stadium DJ is where my biggest gripe lands. I think he is brutal this year and needs to change up what he's doing
 
#94      
EmeraldCityIllini
mattcoldagelli said:
“In danger of losing?” It is lost, man. We are worse at home than we are on the road.

Our home crowds are extremely mid, I don’t get it.
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I don't go to nearly as many games as i used too - mostly the road games now due to location. But on tv last night, when they showed the crowd before tip, it looked like a ton of students just not overly engaged. B1G was giving us a moment to hype ourselves up too, and it looked a little sad honestly. But who knows, that was just a 15-second shot.

I think back to that Arizona game we had in 2021, that's the environment I consistenly want.
 
#95      
RollChief
mattcoldagelli said:
“In danger of losing?” It is lost, man. We are worse at home than we are on the road.

Our home crowds are extremely mid, I don’t get it.
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Illini Basketball 2025-2026

www.illinoisloyalty.com www.illinoisloyalty.com

I've written about this twice, so figured I'd do a quick part 3 update;

Folks probably get a little sick of hearing about Kenpom stats and data tracking, but Kenpom has a Home Court Advantage (HCA) stat that estimates how many points per game a team gains simply from playing at home, based on historical game results after controlling for team quality. It’s expressed as an average point boost (typically ~3–4 points) that gets added to a team’s expected margin in home games and subtracted in road games over the last 60 games.

Illinois is ranked 116th in D-1 and remains at the bottom half of the B1G (12 out of 18), so it's the definition of "extremely mid". With that said, nearly a year ago, we were dead last in the B1G at 176th, so we've made a bit of home court progress.

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#96      
WeWillWhen
IlliniFanTX said:
"we don't give our fans any reason to show up with enthusiasm to think that we're going to win a basketball game" :oops:
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I honestly don't understand how Hurley has lasted as long as he has at Arizona State. His record is not good.
 
#97      
Fighter of the Nightman
RollChief said:

Illini Basketball 2025-2026

www.illinoisloyalty.com www.illinoisloyalty.com

I've written about this twice, so figured I'd do a quick part 3 update;

Folks probably get a little sick of hearing about Kenpom stats and data tracking, but Kenpom has a Home Court Advantage (HCA) stat that estimates how many points per game a team gains simply from playing at home, based on historical game results after controlling for team quality. It’s expressed as an average point boost (typically ~3–4 points) that gets added to a team’s expected margin in home games and subtracted in road games over the last 60 games.

Illinois is ranked 116th in D-1 and remains at the bottom half of the B1G (12 out of 18), so it's the definition of "extremely mid". With that said, nearly a year ago, we were dead last in the B1G at 176th, so we've made a bit of home court progress.

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I think it's fascinating how many variables could go into that. For example, I would consider Minnesota (#16 on this list) to have a comparatively good crowd and atmosphere for how bad they usually are. Conversely, I would consider Penn State (#5 on this list) to have possibly the worst home court atmosphere in the league, on average.

This is harder to put a data point on, but I just subjectively never felt like our guys feel any more comfortable playing in Champaign than anywhere else. I guess a positive spin on that is maybe it could serve us well come Tournament time (we all remember several mid-2000s Wisconsin teams that were literally unbeatable at home and routinely flamed out early in March Madness) ... but I must admit that I miss the House of 'Paign having a reputation similar to Mackey does now. And, in case anyone forgot ... it did in the mid-2000s.
 
#98      
Illinicpa14
I’ve always wondered if the Q1 games concept has also impacted the emphasis; where suddenly the road game at NW is now somehow a bigger win then home against another tourney team half the time.

We clearly have a great “roadkill” mentality. Does that message at times hurt our guys being ready at home?

On the other hand, feel Purdue and their fans go into every home game ready to win by 20.
 
#100      
EmeraldCityIllini
Speaking of atmospheres and home court advantages.

But the winter storm hitting Indiana begins around noon on Saturday. Wind chills getting into -20 in some spots and the heavy snow beginning right at tip going through until Monday.

Imagine the students bring it no matter what, but lots of older folks make up the Mackey crowd too, curious if it dampens it at all 🤷‍♂️
 
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