Pregame: Illinois vs Ohio State, Friday, March 15th, 5:30pm CT, BTN
- Status
Every year I'm thankful when don't play in the opening games, but then I reason that we are at a disadvantage because our opponent has played one game already on the court.
Quickly, I realize that means that team is having to turn around and play a game that quickly and maybe they are gassed.
But then I arrive at the conclusion that having played on the floor already covers up for any tired legs. Then I believe that this will lead to some cockiness that we will be able to exploit. Then I think, "why shouldn't they be !!!!? They've already played one game on that court."
This generally goes on like that in my head until tip-off.
Quickly, I realize that means that team is having to turn around and play a game that quickly and maybe they are gassed.
But then I arrive at the conclusion that having played on the floor already covers up for any tired legs. Then I believe that this will lead to some cockiness that we will be able to exploit. Then I think, "why shouldn't they be !!!!? They've already played one game on that court."
This generally goes on like that in my head until tip-off.
By Saturday, any team without a Double Bye that's still around is completely gassed.
But we’re only better as long as we play hard and play smart.
I would like to see us run their legs off like we did against Iowa. Go Illini.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
As far as Operation 3 Seed goes, we got really lucky today … let’s not blow it tomorrow! Beat OSU!!!!
InDaAZ
- Eugene, Oregon
Chad Fleck
- Eureka, IL
It's even harder to win THIRD game in 3 days. That's what Ohio State is up against tonight.
No real excuse for not being able to out play them.
Sorry but their game against Iowa was their first game this week. But still, let’s roll them!
OSU had single bye. they went 9 deep. 3 at 30-34 min (battle, thornton, gayle), 2 at 21-22, and 4 at 11-17 min. no team will be on its 3rd game today - both MD and PSU lost. I'll take our repeat of the @IA start
From here on out we have to play like there is no tomorrow. That’s how OSU has been playing for weeks. If we want to finally make it to the 2nd weekend of the dance then we couldn’t ask for a better test than this. Are we better than OSU, yes. Will we lose if we don’t bring all out effort on both ends of the floor? It’s very likely. Gotta embrace the fight!
Chad Fleck
- Eureka, IL
I'm an idiot. Too many games going on.
I honestly thought we would lay an egg against Iowa. We had very little to play for and they had everything on the line. I was happy to be wrong.
This feels like the same setup. Let's hope for the same results.
This feels like the same setup. Let's hope for the same results.
It's put up or shut up time. We have the dogs to win it all - time to shock the world.
It also was like 6am CST. We’ve all done it
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
College ball is unique and wonderful. I live for this week every year, especially when the Illini are at the top of the league. The ACC tourney is in town this week, which I didn't realize until I was walking with friends at lunch on Tuesday (my office is four blocks from the CapOne Arena downtown) and saw various pedestrians wearing the regalia of various teams. Went online and snagged lower bowl tickets to a highly entertaining Virginia Tech-FSU game on Weds at noon. Enjoyed it with my close friend who played for the Terps nearly 60 years ago and, sadly, pines for the ACC. He shares my late father's birthday and in a way fills the void my dad left. He's pushing 80 and loves the game and its lore as I do. Listening to him describe playing in Clemson's smoke-filled tobacco barn arena in '66 (when I was two months old) gives me chills.
My dad passed 20 years ago this coming summer and would have been 100 next month. He was a Southern gentleman of honor and few words, having endured an unimaginably hard childhood, but when we sat in the arena together watching OSU basketball, or in the living room watching sports, none were needed. I miss him every day.
Last Saturday I got up early and took my daughter back to VT after spring break where we attended the VT-Notre Dame men's game. I couldn't get her interested in sports as a child, and had no success during her freshman year encouraging her to dive into Hokie nation and attend football and basketball games. I kept telling her "these are your people, these are your teams, this is your community." But then she finally did last September as a sophomore. One dose of Enter Sandman at a Saturday night Labor Day weekend game in Lane Stadium and she became a monster. Sitting with her in Cassell Coliseum last Saturday afternoon as she taught me the Hokie cheers and customs, as she asked insatiably about fouls and high ball screens and cheered with mad elation, I thought of my dad, how he died when she was only three months old and never met her, how she favors him, and how he would have cherished her and she him. He was sitting there with us, silent and satisfied in this communion like no other. I felt no sadness, only gratitude and peace. It was intense. And this game we love gave me that experience that I'll now treasure in the virtual locket I carry through life. I drove the four hours back home up I-81 in the driving rain and relentless truck convoys, having gotten only five hours of sleep the preceding night, feeling pure joy and exhilaration all the way.
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Donned my O&B polo shirt on an unseasonably warm DC day this morning, pulled on my lucky Illini basketball socks, and am ready for the 18:30 tip enjoying the game with good friends, one of whom is from Serbia and has never seen a college basketball game.
No matter what happens this month I give thanks for the team we've enjoyed since BU assembled it last June. Much more than that, I give thanks for this game. These games that bind us, that bring my Serbian friend a step closer to being an American. The anticipation of the season, the ups and downs, so many victories. I have faith there's more to come. Our guys have worked incredibly hard, which I never forget, even when I'm shouting at the TV in a bar for someone to please GO TO THE FREAKING BALL when Justin is trying to inbound it.
I get a bit emotional when I think of the great fortune I had to attend UIUC and the indelible mark the campus, the Big Sky, my friends, and the school made on my soul. I'm thankful for what Dan has created here for all of us in the Illini community to enjoy. It's a wonderful part of my life. We're fortunate beyond words to have enjoyed the show that TSJ, Marcus, CoHawk and their teammates have put on this year. The pipeline is primed (Canadian or not) and I'm hopeful that our program will roll on through the sunny uplands it has finally reached after several years careening through dark valleys.
We love no other so let our motto be: victory Illinois varsity.
My dad passed 20 years ago this coming summer and would have been 100 next month. He was a Southern gentleman of honor and few words, having endured an unimaginably hard childhood, but when we sat in the arena together watching OSU basketball, or in the living room watching sports, none were needed. I miss him every day.
Last Saturday I got up early and took my daughter back to VT after spring break where we attended the VT-Notre Dame men's game. I couldn't get her interested in sports as a child, and had no success during her freshman year encouraging her to dive into Hokie nation and attend football and basketball games. I kept telling her "these are your people, these are your teams, this is your community." But then she finally did last September as a sophomore. One dose of Enter Sandman at a Saturday night Labor Day weekend game in Lane Stadium and she became a monster. Sitting with her in Cassell Coliseum last Saturday afternoon as she taught me the Hokie cheers and customs, as she asked insatiably about fouls and high ball screens and cheered with mad elation, I thought of my dad, how he died when she was only three months old and never met her, how she favors him, and how he would have cherished her and she him. He was sitting there with us, silent and satisfied in this communion like no other. I felt no sadness, only gratitude and peace. It was intense. And this game we love gave me that experience that I'll now treasure in the virtual locket I carry through life. I drove the four hours back home up I-81 in the driving rain and relentless truck convoys, having gotten only five hours of sleep the preceding night, feeling pure joy and exhilaration all the way.
*******************
Donned my O&B polo shirt on an unseasonably warm DC day this morning, pulled on my lucky Illini basketball socks, and am ready for the 18:30 tip enjoying the game with good friends, one of whom is from Serbia and has never seen a college basketball game.
No matter what happens this month I give thanks for the team we've enjoyed since BU assembled it last June. Much more than that, I give thanks for this game. These games that bind us, that bring my Serbian friend a step closer to being an American. The anticipation of the season, the ups and downs, so many victories. I have faith there's more to come. Our guys have worked incredibly hard, which I never forget, even when I'm shouting at the TV in a bar for someone to please GO TO THE FREAKING BALL when Justin is trying to inbound it.
I get a bit emotional when I think of the great fortune I had to attend UIUC and the indelible mark the campus, the Big Sky, my friends, and the school made on my soul. I'm thankful for what Dan has created here for all of us in the Illini community to enjoy. It's a wonderful part of my life. We're fortunate beyond words to have enjoyed the show that TSJ, Marcus, CoHawk and their teammates have put on this year. The pipeline is primed (Canadian or not) and I'm hopeful that our program will roll on through the sunny uplands it has finally reached after several years careening through dark valleys.
We love no other so let our motto be: victory Illinois varsity.
OrangeBlue98
- Des Moines, IA
Having watched the Iowa-OSU game yesterday, three things came to mind for me.
1) Can OSU really replicate what they did yesterday? They played great yesterday, but regression to the mean and all of that.
2) Iowa obviously likes to play at a high pace. Can OSU bounce back from that in 24 hours?
3) I feel like playing Sunday instead of Saturday helps Illinois in this situation. Sunday-Friday is closer to a standard period of rest between games compared to playing on Saturday.
I think this game may be close for a half as OSU likely comes out hard knowing they MUST have this game to keep any possible hope of a NCAA bid alive. But I think Illinois will wear them down and pull away in the 2nd half to win by a margin that may not be reflective of how the game actually progresses.
Illinois 90, OSU 74 with a late Illini pull-away seems about right.
1) Can OSU really replicate what they did yesterday? They played great yesterday, but regression to the mean and all of that.
2) Iowa obviously likes to play at a high pace. Can OSU bounce back from that in 24 hours?
3) I feel like playing Sunday instead of Saturday helps Illinois in this situation. Sunday-Friday is closer to a standard period of rest between games compared to playing on Saturday.
I think this game may be close for a half as OSU likely comes out hard knowing they MUST have this game to keep any possible hope of a NCAA bid alive. But I think Illinois will wear them down and pull away in the 2nd half to win by a margin that may not be reflective of how the game actually progresses.
Illinois 90, OSU 74 with a late Illini pull-away seems about right.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Fun fact, this is our history as a #2 seed in the BTT...
1998 (Chicago, IL)
#18 Illinois 66, Wisconsin 61
#9 Purdue 68, #18 Illinois 47
2003 (Chicago, IL)
#13 Illinois 94, Northwestern 65
#13 Illinois 73, Indiana 72
#13 Illinois 72, Ohio State 59 (BTT Championship)
2009 (Indianapolis, IN)
Illinois 60, Michigan 50
#24 Purdue 66, Illinois 56
2021 (Indianapolis, IN)
#3 Illinois 90, Rutgers 68
#3 Illinois 82, #5 Iowa 71
#3 Illinois 91, #9 Ohio State in OT (BTT Championship)
8-2 and two BTT titles?? Not bad at all! Let's add another three wins.
1998 (Chicago, IL)
#18 Illinois 66, Wisconsin 61
#9 Purdue 68, #18 Illinois 47
2003 (Chicago, IL)
#13 Illinois 94, Northwestern 65
#13 Illinois 73, Indiana 72
#13 Illinois 72, Ohio State 59 (BTT Championship)
2009 (Indianapolis, IN)
Illinois 60, Michigan 50
#24 Purdue 66, Illinois 56
2021 (Indianapolis, IN)
#3 Illinois 90, Rutgers 68
#3 Illinois 82, #5 Iowa 71
#3 Illinois 91, #9 Ohio State in OT (BTT Championship)
8-2 and two BTT titles?? Not bad at all! Let's add another three wins.
- Status