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Illinois 88, Missouri 63 Postgame
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<blockquote data-quote="Guest" data-source="post: 1690450" data-attributes="member: 748655"><p>Well, actually I already did. But I also stated that I don't have a good answer to that as well. I suggested Kentucky playing somewhere like Louisville (although I think Louisville fans would not like that very much). And BretMyBeachHouse above had several good suggestions. It just seems as if people cannot fathom the idea of discontinuing this series like it has been written in stone since Moses. It hasn't. Someone in 1976 (or 75?) decided to schedule a game between Illinois and Missouri and it became a great game at least during the 80s and 90s when both teams were consistently good, made the NCAA tournament regularly so there was more to the game than just playing each other. A Missouri writer, Sam Snelling said in a recent post (SB Nation), </p><p></p><p>"Officially the “Braggin’ Rights” part of this game came around in the early 80s, with the two programs at a crescendo of success. Illinois and Missouri were two of the more consistently good programs from 1980 to the late 1990s. Illinois missed the NCAA tournament just four times from 1980 to 2000. While Missouri missed the tournament just five times in that same span.</p><p></p><p>But since the 2000-01 season, Missouri has just 7 wins in the series, and three of those were over the previous three years. The previous four games came when Mike Anderson was revving up at the same time Bruce Weber had lost Bill Self’s recruits, and eventually turned the program over the John Groce.</p><p></p><p>I’m not sure the point of this intro really. I think I’m just avoiding talking about the game. But while the last three wins were nice, Illinois’ upswings in more recent seasons have been more up than Missouri’s, so while Illinois is on a bit of a high point... the Tigers are most definitely not."</p><p></p><p>Seems even Missouri fans realize that there is a discrepancy between Illinois and Missouri. I don't think Snelling wants to discontinue the series because I suspect it would hurt Missouri more than Illinois.</p><p></p><p>So, again, I seem to have to repeat myself. If we started playing a better team, say Kentucky just as an example, I think that if Illinois is not blown out every year but rather makes the games close and maybe even wins once in a while that will put the Illinois program on a higher level. It would definitely be a national game every year and people and recruits will see that Illinois has "arrived". But, only if the Illini win sometimes which I think thry can do. And after 10 or 20 years of that series no one will even remember that we used to play Missouri. Well, that last part is probably a little hyperbolic. I am sure people will remember but will they really care to resume the series after playing someone like Kentucky year after year?</p><p></p><p>Having said that, I think this topic has pretty much run its course. I mean, feel free to respond but I think I have exhausted my points which basically are just saying that I think we could do better than Missouri and that I think it would be beneficial overall and over time for the Illini to do so. But it is just my opinion. And I guess I just can't understand why people are so locked into having Missouri as Illinois' great rival. All things must pass. I just think it is something to consider.</p><p></p><p>Also, I would like to thank everyone for treating my suggestions/questions with respect and civility. I imagine that given what I have written someone or more than just one could have jumped down my throat and made all sorts of unkind comments. But everyone has been polite and courteous and have offered interesting well thought out responses to my post. Thank you.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Guest, post: 1690450, member: 748655"] Well, actually I already did. But I also stated that I don't have a good answer to that as well. I suggested Kentucky playing somewhere like Louisville (although I think Louisville fans would not like that very much). And BretMyBeachHouse above had several good suggestions. It just seems as if people cannot fathom the idea of discontinuing this series like it has been written in stone since Moses. It hasn't. Someone in 1976 (or 75?) decided to schedule a game between Illinois and Missouri and it became a great game at least during the 80s and 90s when both teams were consistently good, made the NCAA tournament regularly so there was more to the game than just playing each other. A Missouri writer, Sam Snelling said in a recent post (SB Nation), "Officially the “Braggin’ Rights” part of this game came around in the early 80s, with the two programs at a crescendo of success. Illinois and Missouri were two of the more consistently good programs from 1980 to the late 1990s. Illinois missed the NCAA tournament just four times from 1980 to 2000. While Missouri missed the tournament just five times in that same span. But since the 2000-01 season, Missouri has just 7 wins in the series, and three of those were over the previous three years. The previous four games came when Mike Anderson was revving up at the same time Bruce Weber had lost Bill Self’s recruits, and eventually turned the program over the John Groce. I’m not sure the point of this intro really. I think I’m just avoiding talking about the game. But while the last three wins were nice, Illinois’ upswings in more recent seasons have been more up than Missouri’s, so while Illinois is on a bit of a high point... the Tigers are most definitely not." Seems even Missouri fans realize that there is a discrepancy between Illinois and Missouri. I don't think Snelling wants to discontinue the series because I suspect it would hurt Missouri more than Illinois. So, again, I seem to have to repeat myself. If we started playing a better team, say Kentucky just as an example, I think that if Illinois is not blown out every year but rather makes the games close and maybe even wins once in a while that will put the Illinois program on a higher level. It would definitely be a national game every year and people and recruits will see that Illinois has "arrived". But, only if the Illini win sometimes which I think thry can do. And after 10 or 20 years of that series no one will even remember that we used to play Missouri. Well, that last part is probably a little hyperbolic. I am sure people will remember but will they really care to resume the series after playing someone like Kentucky year after year? Having said that, I think this topic has pretty much run its course. I mean, feel free to respond but I think I have exhausted my points which basically are just saying that I think we could do better than Missouri and that I think it would be beneficial overall and over time for the Illini to do so. But it is just my opinion. And I guess I just can't understand why people are so locked into having Missouri as Illinois' great rival. All things must pass. I just think it is something to consider. Also, I would like to thank everyone for treating my suggestions/questions with respect and civility. I imagine that given what I have written someone or more than just one could have jumped down my throat and made all sorts of unkind comments. But everyone has been polite and courteous and have offered interesting well thought out responses to my post. Thank you. [/QUOTE]
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