Pregame: Illinois vs BYU (United Center), Saturday, December 17th, 8:30pm CT, BTN

Newman · Dec 17, 2016

Kathy said:
It's the same for both teams, so I don't think that's accurate. They need to show up to play, and then play!

Agreed. It'll just make it even more of a true neutral court game. If we can't handle a small and quiet crowd how are we going to handle playing at Purdue, Indiana, and Michigan.

TCTORNADO · Dec 17, 2016

Vegas line down to Illini -1

TriCityBurbs · Dec 17, 2016

If I can remember correctly last time we played a game with a minuscule crowd we beat VCU by 18 points.

WesterveltVictoryCigar · Dec 17, 2016

BlindLoyalty said:
There are going to be tumbleweeds inside the UC. Producer/Director certainly will be ordered by the BTN --> "no crowd shots." Late start, bad weather and morgue-like atmosphere could be a recipe for an upset.

Game is pretty much a toss-up, so not much of an upset.

Dayman · Dec 17, 2016

Sorry if has been discussed but how big is this Mika guy people have mentioned and who does everyone think guards him? Can DJ guard him if we need him to?

FatGreg · Dec 17, 2016

Dayman said:
Sorry if has been discussed but how big is this Mika guy people have mentioned and who does everyone think guards him? Can DJ guard him if we need him to?

6'10 with good length and frame. NBA caliber run/jump athlete who can outrun college bigs in transition and score second chance points on tips-ins and offensive rebounds. Plus ball handler who can attack the basket when facing up and finish efficiently at the hoop. Good passer, high IQ. Not a shooter and not exactly a banger, but scores in a lot of opportunistic ways. Difficult matchup - I assume we'all rotate several guys onto him based on situation.

OldGreg · Dec 17, 2016

Dayman said:
Sorry if has been discussed but how big is this Mika guy people have mentioned and who does everyone think guards him? Can DJ guard him if we need him to?

Ha! Absolutely not. Mika would have to go to a Chicago city jail after the game because that matchup would basically be assault of a minor.

TriCityBurbs · Dec 17, 2016

Would it be better if we lost to BYU and beat Mizzou, or beat BYU and lost to Mizzou?

IlliniOllie · Dec 17, 2016

TriCityBurbs said:
Would it be better if we lost to BYU and beat Mizzou, or beat BYU and lost to Mizzou?

Losing to Mizzou would be horrendous.

jrichisamazing · Dec 17, 2016

TriCityBurbs said:
Would it be better if we lost to BYU and beat Mizzou, or beat BYU and lost to Mizzou?

For the resume? Lose to BYU and beat Mizzou. A loss to BYU wouldn't kill us, but a loss to Mizzou would look terrible on the resume

But man it would be terrible having to listen to Mizzou fans for the next year.

Newman · Dec 17, 2016

TriCityBurbs said:
Would it be better if we lost to BYU and beat Mizzou, or beat BYU and lost to Mizzou?

I might be in the minority here but I would rather beat a good team and have a loss to a bad one than the other way around. Mizzou is really bad though so if we can beat BYU there's no excuse for us to lose to them, even with it being a rivalry game. The committee values wins more than losses so that's the only reason I would prefer that situation. On the other hand, it would look bad to downstate recruits so idk..

whovous · Dec 17, 2016

We need to win both to dance. I am not especially worried about Mizzou this year, but this game makes me nervous. I don't think we dance if we lose. And yes, I know it is not that simple.

Illinijose · Dec 17, 2016

Unleash Kipper!!!

jrichisamazing · Dec 17, 2016

Newman said:
I might be in the minority here but I would rather beat a good team and have a loss to a bad one than the other way around. Mizzou is really bad though so if we can beat BYU there's no excuse for us to lose to them, even with it being a rivalry game. The committee values wins more than losses so that's the only reason I would prefer that situation. On the other hand, it would look bad to downstate recruits so idk..

I guess it depends how good BYU ends up being. If they are a top 30 team at the end of the year then I agree. If they are in the 40-50 range then I kind of agree. But if BYU drops into the 70ish range (or worse) then you have a bad loss with a meh win.