Pregame: Illinois vs Houston, Thursday, March 26th, 9:05pm CT, TBS
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just booked it. L.F.G
I'll keep repeating this: this is not a home game for Houston. I can find studies to support or reject the idea that proximity or familiarity of a neutral site provide an advantage, but the line (2.5) clearly shows that sports books don't think it amounts to much, otherwise Houston would be favored by more.
As was mentioned, 2.5pts does not amount to 33% chance- the moneyline odds on this game give us a ~42% chance to win.
MoCoMdIllini
- Montgomery County, Maryland
What if you add Kurt Angle to the mix?
I've always felt home field/court advantage is more about your routine than it is actual location or fan support. How you get to the arena, going to your locker, access to practice facilities, knowing where the training room is, etc. Any deviation from that can put you in a road game mindset. I imagine in a tournament situation that Houston will probably even stay in a team hotel too for team meals and to enforce curfew. So even getting to sleep in your own bed wouldn't apply.
12Years
- Champaign
2004 we were #5 seed after defeating the higher seeded and favored Cincinnati.
Totally, and in terms of fan support, there are 4 teams' fanbases in attendance. And ours - who travel well in any case - will certainly be well repped.
I'm cautiously optimistic here. I know the ratings numbers are the same, but the gap between our offense and their defense is greater than their offense and our D.
We're going to need both Jake and Andrej in this one. That said, I do agree that offensively Andrej will probably struggle in this one. Houston sort of dares you to try taking it iso against them as they have a swarming physical defense. Generally, it doesn't end well for teams and players who try to do this unless the person driving can make quick decisions to pass out and find the open man, something that Andrej has been reluctant to do for the most part. That said, Andrej does have the ability to collapse the defense and Houston's scouting will clearly say swarm him and don't worry about leaving open shooters because he ain't passing, so if he were to pass out, I would expect us to get a number of wide open threes in rhythm until Houston adjusts. Odds of this happening though is probably small. So where Andrej can truly make a difference is on the defensive end and boards. When he's active his length allows him to block and challenge opponents taking midrange jumpers from the trailing position, something that is fairly unique for us and does help counter Houston's midrange jumpers.
Jake is also going to be extremely necessary as to win this one, we're going to need a good shooting night from 3 and Jake can fill it up with the best of them. He also has put together some good offensive rebounding and defensive efforts, especially when it comes to going after 50/50balls.
Needless to say, whoever is on the court or starting, we're going to need a good game out of to win this one. Gotta just go out there and play our hearts out- have to be plus on the boards, have to win our fair share of 50/50 balls, and gotta make shots.
The Galloping Ghost
- Washington, DC
WE HAVE TO WIN THIS GAME. THE PATH IS WIDE OPEN. PLEASE FREAKING WIN THIS THING.
WOW!!!!!!!!
I mean, awesome to see the 1 seed in our region lose early. But man, I’ll hate to see either Iowa or Nebraska make it farther than us if we lose to Houston.
I mean, awesome to see the 1 seed in our region lose early. But man, I’ll hate to see either Iowa or Nebraska make it farther than us if we lose to Houston.
Biggest game of Brad’s career. Biggest Illinois game since 2005.
Get out of Houston, and you’ve got a wide open path to the final 4.
Get out of Houston, and you’ve got a wide open path to the final 4.
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Biggest game of Brad's life Thursday. Couldn't be set up any better with a win. GET IT DONE!
The B1G has at least 6 in the S16, with UCLA trying to make it 7. No other conference can have more than 4.
The Galloping Ghost
- Washington, DC
Me looking at the bracket right now...
I’m not sure what I would hate more. Losing this game knowing we had Iowa or Nebraska to go to the final four… Or losing to Iowa or Nebraska with the chance at a final four…
9-seed Iowa, who actually is outclassed by Florida, beats 1-seed Florida, and a lot of us are ready to hand Houston 2 out of 3 games?
Nebraska's a really good team.
Illinois is a really good team, and the better team.
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
No, it's not a home game for Houston since it's not being played in the Fertitta Center, but if you think there would be the same number of Houston fans at the Toyota Center as there would be if the game were being played in Charlotte, NC, you'd be wrong. Houston will definitely have a crowd advantage. Having said that, it shouldn't be any tougher to play there than it would be to play an away game in East Lansing or at the Mackey Center, other than the stakes. They have the blueprint to win in a hostile environment.
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