Also, this seems like the appropriate place to post this. I was thinking more about some of the debates / conversations here where you have what seems like two groups of fans (both very broad and with a lot of variety within them), plus of course folks who wouldn't fall in either.
(1) Fans who are frustrated that this team really looked like it could be the one to finally cut down the nets for the Illini, and now they are feeling like this is more of a Sweet Sixteen team that can maybe make the Elite Eight. They'd still acknowledge that's a great season in the big picture, but they sort of feel the heartbreak of
thinking we had a title contender and now being less sure.
(2) Fans who are frustrated that so many of our fans seem to have an almost delusional lack of appreciation for a season that could likely produce a frickin' #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Not only is that just an objectively great season by almost any metric and not only is it especially good compared to the pre-Underwood Era, but you also just flat-out DO give yourself a chance to fight to cut down the nets if you achieve a #2 seed ... the path really is that good if you take care of business!
I think both of these are totally reasonable in different ways, and I think it touches on a finer point about Illini basketball ... and that is there is just no way to avoid the reality that we must ALWAYS thread the needle with being appreciative of what we have accomplished while never losing the sense of urgency to remember that the ultimate goal here IS a National Championship. The latter is common sense when you are (arguably) the best program all-time to not win the National Championship, and you have put yourself in a position to achieve that goal several times in the modern era (1 National Runner-Up, 2 Final Fours, 4 times as a #1 seed, etc. in the last couple decades). Winning a National Championship here is just simply not a fool's dream ... it's something that's almost happened, and we keep reloading to at least be in the conversation. That will always be the ultimate goal until it happens. With that said, it's just asinine to expect every year to be our shot, even in the NIL / portal era. Sometimes, we do need to just appreciate a great season and not get down on a team of which we should be proud simply because we aren't confident we will LITERALLY be the one team that wins the NCAA Tournament.
And I think the
TL;DR compromise, at least for me, is this. I know we won't be a Final Four contender every year, and that is okay. I can still be proud and optimistic about the program IF one (admittedly vague) requirement is being met ... and that is no matter how an individual season might be going, I feel we are
working toward that ultimate goal in a noticeable and positive way. If we go the next 10 years getting #4 and #5 seeds and we all know in our heart of hearts that those teams don't have a snowball's chance in hell of going on a Final Four run, that's an issue ... because the pieces clearly aren't there to regularly put ourselves in a position to eventually get lucky and win it all. However, if we are getting a top 3 seed in 3 of 5 years, as we have since 2021?! That is absolutely putting ourselves in a position to achieve that goal. Who knows what will happen with this group? If they regain the form they had during the winning streak and even pre-UCLA loss, the sky really is the limit ... if we play like we did at Maryland twice in the Tournament, we are getting bounced in the Second Round (and yes, that IS a disappointment as a #2 seed no matter how you cut it!). I am optimistic that the latter won't happen ... and I am unsure if the former will. Something in between can still give us a very good postseason, and all you can do in March Madness is hope that things fall our way!
