Illinois vs Eastern Illinois, Monday, November 4th, 7:00pm CT, B1G+

#29      
The Elite 8 program and top B10 team over the last 5 yrs gets the B10+ treatment to start the season? B10 Network doing a disservice for their own ratings much less Illini nation. Going to try to find a working stream for this game
B10 has used BTN+ to broadcast 2-3 games a year for each team for the better part of a decade now so this is simply normal (and perhaps even contractually obligated) at this point. I was very much against paying when this decision was originally made under the "in the past this game wouldn't have been broadcasted so if it weren't for BTN+, you couldn't watch" marketing that was not quite being truthful. However now that BTN+ does offer a large amount of actual additional sports programming with much improved production from it's early days, I am more accepting of the model.

However if Illini mens bball is the only illini sport you care about, I do understand the aggravation of paying for yet another streaming service you'll use only twice and then have to cancel. That said, if you do like to keep up with other Illini sports, BTN+ is somewhat worth the price in my opinion as it provides a lot of sports content that isn't available on tv
 
#30      
Whether he's cleared before or after EIU, it feels like Tomi should be cleared within the next month, prior to the Arkansas game on Thanksgiving day.

With the potential of Tomi & Zvonimir matchup, the game could be a storyline showcasing a twin vs. twin battle, or a storyline overshadowing the NCAAs bureaucracy while Tomi sits, and intuition says that the former has college basketball's best interests in mind with hopefully a lot of eyes on that game...

Yes … I’ve heard he should be cleared sometime this week …

But worst case is by Thanksgiving …
 
#35      
I was hoping B1G+ would go away with the new media deal and they'd just move all of that content to Peacock, but Peacock wants to present itself as the host of premium games, but appears to have taken some, like our match-up against SIU-Edwardsville. The issue is there's too many overlapping buy games each night for BTN to broadcast and the better channels like Fox, FS1, etc. don't find them worth broadcasting/don't want to spend the money to produce.

For example, for this game, BTN has elected to instead air Michigan's buy game. Our November 23 BIG+ game is due to it being Saturday, when BTN will be dedicated to football.
 
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#36      
I was hoping B1G+ would go away with the new media deal and they'd just move all of that content to Peacock, but Peacock wants to present itself as the host of premium games, but appears to have taken some, like our match-up against SIU-Edwardsville. The issue is there's too many overlapping buy games each night for BTN to broadcast and the better channels like Fox, FS1, etc. don't find them worth broadcasting/don't want to spend the money to produce.

For example, for this game, BTN has elected to instead air Michigan's buy game. Our November 23 BIG+ game is due to it being Saturday, when BTN will be dedicated to football.
Now see here! You know being reasonable is never acceptable when a perfectly good conspiracy theory is available!
 
#37      
if we can get out in transition and not turn the ball over, we should win by 20 plus, half court and D kinda game, will be way closer, we will by 5 or so
 
#38      
I expect us to win by at least 20. We have too much talent. But what matters more is, will we see some purpose in the offense. Ball movement, etc. And I also hope we play some zone; I always harp on this, but don't have much company.
 
#41      
It's a cynical tax on hardcore fans that I have never paid and never will. Shame on them.
I also will never pay for Big+, nor will I ever pay for Peacock. (I got rid of the greedy Comcast monopoly at the first opportunity I got after decades with them. (And I will never return.) The BIG has no respect for Big fans and looks for every opportunity to squeeze every penny they can out of them. I've decided enough is enough and won't watch any Big programing from any new costly sources they throw on us.
 
#42      
I also will never pay for Big+, nor will I ever pay for Peacock. (I got rid of the greedy Comcast monopoly at the first opportunity I got after decades with them. (And I will never return.) The BIG has no respect for Big fans and looks for every opportunity to squeeze every penny they can out of them. I've decided enough is enough and won't watch any Big programing from any new costly sources they throw on us.
I do think Peacock has value to make it somewhat compelling, especially during Olympic years.
 
#43      
EIU is 332nd in kenpom. I think we could be without our 5 best and still comfortably win.

This is just a casual tuneup game. The actual first hurdle is Oakland.

My concern is that the lower competition will significantly undermine the lessons from the Ole Miss game. Hard defense is a habit to build and is for EVERY play. I'd tell the team that a win by anything less than 40 will be viewed as a loss and the following practices will reflect it.
 
#44      
My concern is that the lower competition will significantly undermine the lessons from the Ole Miss game. Hard defense is a habit to build and is for EVERY play. I'd tell the team that a win by anything less than 40 will be viewed as a loss and the following practices will reflect it.
We have always had at least 3 or 4 of these types of games. Not saying you aren’t right, but it’s by far the norm for P5 teams. Som

We’ve got plenty of non con chances to prove we need to play hard. Don’t worry too much about it.
 
#45      
I also will never pay for Big+, nor will I ever pay for Peacock. (I got rid of the greedy Comcast monopoly at the first opportunity I got after decades with them. (And I will never return.) The BIG has no respect for Big fans and looks for every opportunity to squeeze every penny they can out of them. I've decided enough is enough and won't watch any Big programing from any new costly sources they throw on us.
I get it, but this level of anger and upset, when paired with a Zantac will still land you with an ulcer, no Illini game, and maybe a bit of cancer from the Zantac.
 
#46      
My concern is that the lower competition will significantly undermine the lessons from the Ole Miss game. Hard defense is a habit to build and is for EVERY play. I'd tell the team that a win by anything less than 40 will be viewed as a loss and the following practices will reflect it.
i'm assuming BU knew it was going to go poorly against Ole Miss and just wanted the team to see that for themselves. now with EIU being much lower competition, it gives him a chance to reset and start over with the basics.
 
#47      
EIU is 332nd in kenpom. I think we could be without our 5 best and still comfortably win.

This is just a casual tuneup game. The actual first hurdle is Oakland.

I’ve seen a few folks here talk about Oakland being the first hurdle- did they get a good pop from the portal? It seems like they turned over most of their players from last year.
 
#48      
I do think Peacock has value to make it somewhat compelling, especially during Olympic years.
Other than B1G, I have Peacock for Premier League and WWE but will only have it for Premier League once WWE moves to Netflix early next month. As you said though, it's also good to have during Olympic years. The amount of handwringing I see from people on here about games being on Peacock is basically laughable at this point. B1G+ is a crock though, especially when they're fine using the overflow channels during football season. And that's even with acknowledging that the games on there do give experience to young broadcasters at the respective schools.
 
#49      
i'm assuming BU knew it was going to go poorly against Ole Miss and just wanted the team to see that for themselves. now with EIU being much lower competition, it gives him a chance to reset and start over with the basics.

Seems likely. He said in the post game that it was over in the first 4 minutes. You can't beat a team with that big of a disparity of physical play. The preseason hype was pretty big this year, and based mostly on "talent", not production. So a letdown might have been inevitable. Regardless, I don't think they'll forget what a beatdown it was. I took it as a good reminder that it's going to take time for this team to get better, and how much better is an unknown.
 
#50      
I’ve seen a few folks here talk about Oakland being the first hurdle- did they get a good pop from the portal? It seems like they turned over most of their players from last year.
Comparatively, they are ranked about 150 spots higher than our first two games on kenpom.

Yeah they lost a few of their stars but a) Oakland is very well coached for a low major and b) they obviously still have some talent. Not saying they will be more of a test than Ole Miss by any means, it is a different level of competition.
 
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