Illini Basketball 2026-2027

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#651      
BretMyBeachHouse
Personally, I have never had to decipher anything BU has stated over the year's as I think he is a clear speaker and says what he means and rarely mispeaks but this interview was chaotic and all over the place. It left lots of room for interpretation, interpretation that a lot of the board here never deemed necessary.
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The next Jason Kidd would like to have a word.

Count me among the people that doesn't care one whit if BU gives us the straight story on anything. He can tell me any truth or lie, as long as it gets us closer to winning. That's his job.

But history tells us that he's pretty constantly fudging with the truth, not disclosing items, etc.
 
#652      
Fighter of the Nightman
Regarding Bracketology, here is a reminder of where the NCAA Tournament sites are this season:

First Round & Second Round
Louisville, KY
Minneapolis, MN
Omaha, NE
Pittsburgh, PA
Charlotte, NC
Fort Worth, TX
Sacramento, CA
Spokane, WA

Sweet Sixteen & Elite Eight
Kansas City, MO (Midwest)
New York, NY (East)
San Antonio, TX (South)
Los Angeles, CA (West)

Final Four
Detroit, MI

So while I fully expect large Illini contingents wherever we play, there is no "dream path" of virtual home games like we could have had last year with St. Louis-Chicago-Indianapolis ... which is fine, as it in some ways takes off some pressure. With that said, it will also be nice to probably have less intense competition for the Midwest region this year, as last season was STACKED with top 3 seeds that would all prefer to go through Chicago. I doubt it would approach the absolute takeover we had in Indianapolis last season (seriously, everything outside of the four designated fan sections in the bottom bowl was 85%+ Illini fans), I definitely think we will dwarf the turnout for any other fan base if we make it to Detroit, with the massive exception of if MSU or Michigan make it.
 
#654      
HensonHall71
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Regarding Bracketology, here is a reminder of where the NCAA Tournament sites are this season:

First Round & Second Round
Louisville, KY
Minneapolis, MN
Omaha, NE
Pittsburgh, PA
Charlotte, NC
Fort Worth, TX
Sacramento, CA
Spokane, WA

Sweet Sixteen & Elite Eight
Kansas City, MO (Midwest)
New York, NY (East)
San Antonio, TX (South)
Los Angeles, CA (West)

Final Four
Detroit, MI

So while I fully expect large Illini contingents wherever we play, there is no "dream path" of virtual home games like we could have had last year with St. Louis-Chicago-Indianapolis ... which is fine, as it in some ways takes off some pressure. With that said, it will also be nice to probably have less intense competition for the Midwest region this year, as last season was STACKED with top 3 seeds that would all prefer to go through Chicago. I doubt it would approach the absolute takeover we had in Indianapolis last season (seriously, everything outside of the four designated fan sections in the bottom bowl was 85%+ Illini fans), I definitely think we will dwarf the turnout for any other fan base if we make it to Detroit, with the massive exception of if MSU or Michigan make it.
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I wouldn’t be mad at a Louisville, Kansas City, Detroit run. Nothing close to us, but our fans will travel
 
#655      
Ill... INI 27
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Regarding Bracketology, here is a reminder of where the NCAA Tournament sites are this season:

First Round & Second Round
Louisville, KY
Minneapolis, MN
Omaha, NE
Pittsburgh, PA
Charlotte, NC
Fort Worth, TX
Sacramento, CA
Spokane, WA

Sweet Sixteen & Elite Eight
Kansas City, MO (Midwest)
New York, NY (East)
San Antonio, TX (South)
Los Angeles, CA (West)

Final Four
Detroit, MI.
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Louville or Minny would be extremely accessible for Illini fans as would KC.

BUT a first NCAA in Michigan would be tremendous!!! Beating MSU or Fichigan in KC to block them ... !!! I...L...L...
 
#657      
Fighter of the Nightman
HensonHall71 said:
I wouldn’t be mad at a Louisville, Kansas City, Detroit run. Nothing close to us, but our fans will travel
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Ill... INI 27 said:
Louville or Minny would be extremely accessible for Illini fans as would KC...
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I went to the Final Four last year and sat in the nosebleeds, and we literally could only do that because of the following factors:

1) It was driving distance so no flight costs.
2) My sister still has a ton of friends in Indy, so we had a place to stay and therefore no hotel costs.
3) A Purdue friend of ours won tickets in the lottery and sold them to us at face value so no StubHub costs (there were nosebleed tickets going for over $1,000...).

All that is to say, I wonder if the average fan traveling to our NCAA Tournament games is well off enough to the point where a location that involves a relatively easy flight (e.g., Dallas-Fort Worth or Charlotte) would actually bring just as big if not a larger Illini turnout than somewhere technically "Midwestern" like Kansas City or Minneapolis, given they would both be 6-7 hour drives from places like Champaign or the Chicagoland Area.
 
#658      
Fighter of the Nightman
ChiefGritty said:
Lol this is a preposterously Western-shifted set of sites given the geography of the good programs in college basketball.
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Lol, agreed. I'm VERY biased here, but given the centrality for consistently good programs and the exceptional basketball heritages of both states ... I just don't see how you can have a year where you don't have at least one of Chicago or Indianapolis as a location in one of the three rounds!
 
#659      
Fighter of the Nightman
Fighter of the Nightman said:
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This is what I meant to type, lol...

ChiefGritty said:
Lol this is a preposterously Western-shifted set of sites given the geography of the good programs in college basketball.
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Lol, agreed. I'm VERY biased here, but given the centrality for consistently good programs and the exceptional basketball heritages of both states ... I feel like ONE of the three weekends should be in at least one of Chicago or Indianapolis almost every year.

Before anyone suggests that is too much favoritism, I would argue it is pretty analogous to one of the Carolinas getting a First Weekend site in each of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments in a row (and North Carolina getting 7 out of those 10, awfully convenient for Duke and UNC!)...

2027 - Charlotte, NC
2026 - Greenville, SC
2025 - Raleigh, NC
2024 - Charlotte, NC
2023 - Greensboro, NC
2022 - Greenville, SC
2021 - Raleigh, NC (before COVID shift to only Indiana sites)
2020 - Greensboro, NC (before NCAAT cancelled due to COVID)
2019 - Columbia, SC
2018 - Charlotte, NC
 
#663      
Fighter of the Nightman
NASchamp said:
It’s my birthday today (not the point of this post) and my BIL who lives in Durham just came through BIG time with 4 tickets to Illinois at Duke!!! I’m so pumped.
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Epic gift, and happy birthday! Hopefully the boys deliver you an even more epic W in person!!
 
#664      
Marthgiela
ChiefGritty said:
Lol this is a preposterously Western-shifted set of sites given the geography of the good programs in college basketball.
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Having 2 west coast sites every year (Sacramento and Spokane in this case) is ridiculous. We almost always end up with at most 2 western teams being top 4 seeds (gonzaga, ucla and Arizona really being the only consistently good teams west of Texas). There should only be 1 first/second round site out west.

Also as an aside Spokane hosting like every year giving gonzaga free home games is bs and a big part of their famed sweet 16 streak.
 
#665      
Rap47
I thought getting rid of the chief was the main reason for illinois to host ncaa events.
 
#666      
jimbo72
NASchamp said:
It’s my birthday today (not the point of this post) and my BIL who lives in Durham just came through BIG time with 4 tickets to Illinois at Duke!!! I’m so pumped.
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Get BooomChe BoomChe's 17 year old autograph. He'll be national player of year. 7.2ft and shoots 50% from 3, blocks and swats anything in paint. Shoots 85% from free throw line. Terrifying, and he has to come back next year no matter what.
 
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