Illinois at UCLA, Friday, November 13th, 8:00pm CT, FOX

#76      
I see the spread has shrunk but that initial UCLA -11.5 seemed way too high.
 
#77      
I believe an Illini win in Pasadena would be the best of Coach B's tenure here.
I wanted to jump in and disagree with this, but was surprised to find that the Citrus Bowl against South Carolina and USC last year are BB's only two wins against teams that finished the season ranked. (Good chance Oregon becomes the 3rd).
 
#78      
I get what you mean. Sadly we'll never know for sure, but there is a timeline where the Illini are in the top 12 with one loss at OSU...We're just not living that reality. Happy for our alternate reality selves though. I'm sure Illini Loyalty in that branch of the multiverse is lit rn.

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#80      
I very rarely relate to this stuff, and this is a particularly potent example.

We haven't improved DESPITE those struggles and challenges, we have very clearly improved BECAUSE of those struggles and challenges.

Hauck would have lasted longer had we beaten Duke for one thing, but it goes deeper than that.

We are right where we need to be, all the stronger for what has transpired.
I agree with this. Someone can correct me if I’m off base here, but I think Bret wants to let his coaches have some autonomy. But when the team struggles, Bret gets deeply involved and things change quickly. His knowledge of the game is top tier.
 
#83      
Damn 9:00pm game here in ET 😵‍💫 I hate having these West Coast school kick off times now

… I say this like I’m not already planning to stay up to watch it all! Just means more beer consumption prior to kickoff! let’s go get’em! I-L-L
 
#84      
ESPN analyst predictions for UCLA’s ranking in this week’s CFP poll (this is the rank that will be on screen during our game on Friday):

2 analysts @ #2
9 analysts @ #3
1 analyst @ #8 (come on now, Max)

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It is the maddening nature of the way the CFP committee thinks that they'll keep Miami ahead of UCLA because their win at Wake Forest is "better" than anything UCLA has on their resume....and yet they'll also keep Kentucky ahead of Wake Forest because Wake "hasn't beaten anybody".

I agree with this. Someone can correct me if I’m off base here, but I think Bret wants to let his coaches have some autonomy. But when the team struggles, Bret gets deeply involved and things change quickly. His knowledge of the game is top tier.
And our record is phenomenal in close games under BB. "If only XYZ had been different think where we'd be!" type thinking just seems totally misguided to me.

The Butterfly Effect is much, much likelier to leave us with fewer wins rather than more.
 
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