Missouri played a tough schedule and beat a lot of good teams this season, but neither fact impressed the NCAA Tournament selecrtion committee.
www.stltoday.com
Interesting article on Misery's fate in the dance..............
Nice thoughts from another reporter on the Illini....
Myron Medcalf,
ESPN.com: “During a three-game stretch late in the season, Illinois beat Nebraska, Wisconsin and Michigan -- the latter by 23 points in Ann Arbor.
Ayo Dosunmu (20.9 PPG, 6. 2 RPG, 5.2 APG, 1.1 SPG, 40% from the 3-point line), the Wooden Award contender and NBA prospect, did not play in those games. Illinois weathered late-season drama without its star, but now that Dosunmu has returned, the Big Ten tournament champion Illini possess the talent and depth to handle any team in the field.
Kofi Cockburn made 66.4% of his shots inside the arc during Big Ten play, the top mark in the league. But the emergence of freshman
Andre Curbelo, who averaged 15.7 PPG in his last four regular-season games, has only enhanced this program's potential. It has been 16 years since Illinois lost to North Carolina in the national title game in 2005, but this group has a chance to make a similar run.”