Is it possible we downgrade the Krush because we're so close to it? I'm guessing there are a lot of fans of other teams that would put the Krush much higher.
I think the problem with the Krush is the utter lack of passion for games that are "not as exciting." For example, the last two big games I have attended in Champaign, they were relatively awesome (Arizona in 2021-22 and MSU in 2024-25). However, if you are ever bored and flipping channels at night during the season, the difference is Krush will fall down to a pretty pathetic level for, say, a Tuesday night home game vs. Minnesota. Meanwhile, watch a weeknight game where Purdue hosts Northwestern, Duke hosts Boston College, Kansas hosts Oklahoma State, Gonzaga hosts anyone besides St. Mary's, etc., and you will see that for how good it CAN be, the Krush's floor is just WAY too low. I don't care if we are playing a D3 school ... SFC should never sound like you can hear a pin drop given how good our program has been. I mean, when I was a kid I remember the crowd getting LOUDER when we would demolish an inferior opponent as expected, not be bored because it isn't a surprise!
I'm eager to see if Krush can improve on this for this upcoming season. My memory is a little hazy, but I remember this rough timeline eyeballing the home games on last year's schedule:
Before I show this compressed timeline, I would like to say that I distinctly remember our January 8 home game vs. Rutgers being the worst atmosphere I've ever seen for a Big Ten home game, including all of the Groce years. To be clear, students were NOT back ... but I think it really lit the flame again for people rightfully complaining about our home court advantage.
1) On January 24, we shock #4 Purdue in West Lafayette ... this is the moment we realized we REALLY might have it goin' this year. So, keeping that in mind, I think people expected a bit more frenzy when returning to SFC.
2) The January 29 home game vs. Washington seems like a lame environment, but there are plenty of factors (day of the week, nature of the game, opponent, etc.) that could be used as excuses.
3) Our Illini pick up a MASSIVE win at #5 Nebraska on February 1. However, the next home game vs. Northwestern on February 4 has another pretty lame atmosphere. People largely blame it on the game not being competitive at all. The Illini then lose a really tough OT game in East Lansing to snap a 12-game winning streak.
4) The
February 10 loss to Wisconsin is the pivotal point and the ABSOLUTE floor for the Krush and SFC, IMO. There were so many moments late in the second half and in OT when we literally NEEDED the crowd to carry us, and it was just so muted. You can say what you want about non-student fans and what should be expected of them, but the students are LITERALLY there to impact our gameday environment. Others would pay the DIA a hell of a lot more money for those seats if both groups are just going to cheer like they're bored. The criticism at this point extended WAY beyond just niche message boards, and there was quite a bit of chatter on social media about how the Krush put in a pretty pathetic performance. IIRC, some posters here even insinuated that Krush leadership was very aware of it, and they were looking to change things.
5) The February 15 home game vs. Indiana represented a massive improvement, and the students were louder and rowdier than they had been all year. I remember a lot of praise for the improvement in the postgame thread.
6) After a split in LA, the Illini returned home for a February 27 top 10 matchup with Michigan, and the SFC genuinely got back to its glory days of home court advantage, IMO. Until Michigan eventually ran away with it, the Krush and the fans in general were just awesome.
7) I cannot remember what the crowd was like for the March 3 senior night vs. Oregon, but I guarantee you it was better than earlier in the season.
P.S. I think much of the criticism also stemmed from just how rowdy Illini contingents have been in NON-home arenas over the last several years. Like, we should reasonably expect the House of 'Paign to have our most passionate and loudest fans. However, Illini crowds from Braggin' Rights to Iowa City to Vegas (2022-23) to Evanston to every single NCAA Tournament city and finally (and ESPECIALLY) to the United Center last year have just brought A+ efforts. So we know our fans aren't just like programmed not to be rowdy, and we have literal evidence that Champaign CAN be (quite easily) the best crowd of any of those places ... it just slipped for a while, and I am hoping it is back!
TL; DR
The Krush was pretty pitiful from when they got back from Christmas Break all the way through totally bottoming out in a frankly embarrassing showing for the OT loss to Wisconsin. That loss led to surprisingly widespread criticism on social media, and the next home game (Indiana) had a WAY better atmosphere, followed by a truly electric atmosphere for the Michigan game. So, I am cautiously optimistic that the complete dud of an atmosphere vs. Wisconsin and the ensuing backlash might have been a positive turning point.
