Pregame: Illinois vs Iowa, Saturday, March 28th, 5:09pm CT, TBS

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#227      
Illinicpa14
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Back to the game rather than the crowd, I have been talking back and forth with my Iowa friends ... and I just feel too good about this team right now to be scared. Iowa can obviously beat us, and we need to come bring our A game. However, I just have this weird feeling of confidence in our team without this odd sense of anxiousness that I haven't had with a group since 2005. It's not apples to apples by any means, but I just have this feeling we are going to see a cadence similar to after we beat Arizona in 2005 and then came out like this well-oiled machine on an even bigger stage vs. Louisville and the game will never be in doubt. The only hang-up I ever really had with this team was its ability to be consistently 100% focused (which obviously then leads to other issues, like taking ill-advised threes, etc.), and they have just blown away my expectations this Tournament.

There is literally one thing that gives me pause ... I really do think McCollum is the REAL deal, and he has his guys believing that they're a team of destiny. They could have easily folded when Nebraska punched them in the mouth early, and I would have placed heavy bets on Florida and Nebraska finishing them off in the final minutes of both games before I saw Iowa scrap out two wins. The Hawkeyes will NOT stop scrapping and clawing until that final buzzer sounds, and we cannot afford letting them back into the game if we get a lead of 6-10 points or something like that. We need to have the kind of intensity you saw in Luther Head's eyes when he got that second steal in OT of the 2005 Arizona game (IYKYK!) for 40 minutes and possibly even more. If we do that, we are the better team ... and we'll be going to the Final Four.

I-L-L!
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Mashburn (who also was in love with Houston) basically said that credit to Iowa for making shots but that he felt Nebraska just didn’t show up and play a good/clean game with urgency
 
#229      
RabidDawgClassic
Funny story and this seems like the right time to share it.

A few years ago, during the John Groce era, Ms DawgClassic and I were out when we ran into a colleague of mine who happened to be an Iowa fan (an otherwise nice guy). This was shortly after Ms DawgClassic and I had met and before she moved into the Dawg house.

Anyway, I start talking to my colleague and our conversation went something like this:

ME: So, how are your Hawkeyes looking this year?

HIM: They look pretty good, I think. I like what I see, so far, anyway. How about your guys?

ME: I think they look pretty good. I’m not sure just yet. But I think your Hawkeyes look better.

As we walked away, Ms DawgClassic had a suspicious look on her face as she asked, with great trepidation, what that was all about. Like I said, she hasn’t known me all that long. I said “huh, oh he’s from Iowa and we were just talking ball.” She was still perplexed.

“I’m an Illini fan,” I said, “and he’s a Hawkeye fan.”

Then it became clear. “Ohhhhh,” she replied as the lightbulb went off, “Hawkeyes! I thought you were saying “Hot Guys.”

She wasn’t quite sure what she had gotten herself into. 😂

To this day, if we have an Iowa game on and the announcer says “Hawkeyes,” she giggles and says “hot guys.”
 
#230      
Poe's Law
ChiefGritty said:
I gotta be honest, I have a hard time squaring the box scores of their three tourney games with that absurd Torvik 142 offensive efficiency number 🤷‍♂️

But to bring it down to the human level, they are just really feeling themselves and playing with a ton of freedom and confidence right now. They have survived some haymakers in this tourney so far too, they're not going to just go away tomorrow.

The way we turn into the worst team in America every time we get a 15 point lead is worrying, you gotta say.
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Come on we studied for this test all season.

Clemson - 15 offensive rebounds and 24 made FT’s

Florida - 10 offensive rebounds 51% FG% and 14 made FT’s

Nebraska - 52%/43%/83% from the field/three/FT with only 5 TO’s
 
#231      
Fighter of the Nightman
RabidDawgClassic said:
I guess this begs the question… how many Illinois alums are in the state of Texas in general and would make the trip on Saturday who couldn’t make it on Thursday for work or monetary reasons? I would have to imagine Illinois fans in Dallas, San Antonio or wherever might make the trek for this very special chance.
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This website only has data at a county level for the state of Illinois, but it has the following alumni stats for Texas:

UIUC = 14,498
UIC = 5,067
UIS = 1,276
---> Total U of I System = 20,548

Just for a reference, these are the only states with 10K+ UIUC alumni, with the total U of I System alumni also listed:

Illinois = 253,264 UIUC and 457,726 U of I System
California = 33,151 UIUC and 44,925 U of I System
Texas = 14,498 UIUC and 20,548 U of I System
Florida = 13,788 UIUC and 21,174 U of I System

It seems Illinois alumni are uniquely concentrated instate vs. a lot of other schools, which can be good and bad! But Texas has as many as anywhere else not named Illinois or California, so here's to hoping that helps!

P.S. Since a lot of people will be curious, there were a number of states that barely missed my 10K cutoff for UIUC only. Here are the ones with more than 7K but fewer than 10K alumni:

Wisconsin = 9,309 UIUC
Colorado = 8,808 UIUC
Indiana = 8,210 UIUC
Missouri = 8,088 UIUC
New York = 7,852 UIUC
Washington = 7,817 UIUC
Arizona = 7,091 UIUC
Michigan = 7,058 UIUC
 
#232      
FeelYourPaign
Fighter of the Nightman said:
There is literally one thing that gives me pause ... I really do think McCollum is the REAL deal, and he has his guys believing that they're a team of destiny. They could have easily folded when Nebraska punched them in the mouth early, and I would have placed heavy bets on Florida and Nebraska finishing them off in the final minutes of both games before I saw Iowa scrap out two wins. The Hawkeyes will NOT stop scrapping and clawing until that final buzzer sounds, and we cannot afford letting them back into the game if we get a lead of 6-10 points or something like that. We need to have the kind of intensity you saw in Luther Head's eyes when he got that second steal in OT of the 2005 Arizona game (IYKYK!) for 40 minutes and possibly even more. If we do that, we are the better team ... and we'll be going to the Final Four.

I-L-L!
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Couldn't agree more about McCollum. He is an excellent coach and I think we will miss Fran for the next 20 years. A lot of respect for him.

That does not, however, translate to kindness. Take it to the Squawk-eyes!
 
#234      
Battle89
RabidDawgClassic said:
To this day, if we have an Iowa game on and the announcer says “Hawkeyes,” she giggles and says “hot guys.”
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:love::LOL:
 
#240      
skyIdub
I mean, if you live within 8-10 hours drive time, $50-75 tix is a certified No Brainer for this tilt.

As for the Idiots Out Wandering Around….someone spill the odds of them beating Florida, Nebraska. AND Illinois in nerd stats talk.
 
#241      
PrandonBaul
I think the physicality of the last night's defense carries over into tomorrow. Definitely can't afford Kylan to be in foul trouble. You know he will be in another gear to clamped Stirtz just like he did in January. I want to ATTACK the rim at will. Rebound like hell and let's get this thing to Indy!

Oh yeah, does this kid look like he's having fun winning or what?!


3539.jpg
 
#242      
kyillini
Is there a way to see Samson's presser after the game or any interviews from Houston players.
 
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