It has changed. Teams overall within the conference are better. Look at the season. In 2005, the Illini team did not go through the grind that last years illin i team went through. Or even this year. I am not necessarily talking first round but second round as well. We were emotionally spent last year. Iowa was the same last night. Its not called the rugged B1G for nothing.
3/17 Games
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Every P5 conference plays 18-20 conference games and then a tournament...
True but there is no other conference that plays as physical from top to bottom as the Big 10. Been that way for years.
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
They end earlier than ours though, typically. I do think there's a benefit to ending early and getting your guys into treatment, etc. You can rest up physically and get your mind focused on the NCAAT instead of what you just did. I think the quick turn around hurts us.
Now, if Illinois would like to go on a tear next season and prove me wrong, I'd be estatic. (Even more if it started with a tear through this year's NCAAT)
I agree that getting an extra day of treatment for injured players would help but we really didn't have that quick of a turnaround last year. We played in the Fri/Sat games as I recall which would be the same as a conference tournament ending on Sat and then playing in the Thur/Sat games the following weekend. There are plenty of examples of teams having success in these scenarios every year.
Tophe
- Middle TN
I'll take a Cal State Fullerton win too...
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