3/30-3/31 Games Thread
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For the life of me I cannot understand this line of thinking from the other thread saying to root for Purdue so the conference looks better. We want Purdue to lose, period. The sooner the better.
We want the easiest path to the championship should we get past UConn. And for all that is holy I do not want those Frankenmakers getting a championship before we do. And please don’t bring up 70 years ago, I’m talking the modern tournament.
We want the easiest path to the championship should we get past UConn. And for all that is holy I do not want those Frankenmakers getting a championship before we do. And please don’t bring up 70 years ago, I’m talking the modern tournament.
OrangeBlue98
- Des Moines, IA
I have no idea what deals Duke keeps making with the devil (pun not intended, but also not avoided).
They play a short handed 1 seed who loses a top player to an in-game injury. Then they get an 11 seed conference foe in the Elite 8.
It’s sickening. If we are in that bracket, we would have walked to the Final Four.
They play a short handed 1 seed who loses a top player to an in-game injury. Then they get an 11 seed conference foe in the Elite 8.
It’s sickening. If we are in that bracket, we would have walked to the Final Four.
I’d much rather play Duke than Houston
AyoDos11
- Southern Illinois
I want Purdue to beat Tennessee and NC State to beat Duke, only so Purdue can continue their streak of losing to a double digit seed.
Love the sentiment but I want them out. Go Vols.
Tough to beat a good team 3 times in a season though. Odds are low, but then I think about Penn state.
No matter what, I’ll enjoy tomorrow vs UConn.
turnaround3
- 1st & Daniel
And none playing each other.
Imagine the aesthetic in Phoenix for a Final Four featuring Duke, hosting 74,000 people, wherein this little blue sliver absolutely drowns in an unrelenting sea of orange.
Let’s make free throws tomorrow.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
the national
- the Front Range
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
So much for the Big 12 being dominant this year. Purdue and Illinois are showing they were far and away the best two teams in the B1G.
Only guarantee is that ACC will have at least 1 team in Final Four.
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sacraig
- The desert
IlliniwekKDR
- Colorado Springs, CO
Eh, their games are in Dallas. It's a lot closer to Phoenix than Boston, but it still seems like it's too far to walk
If we didn't cough up a lead @Penn State, @ MSU or blow chunks at home versus Maryland...... we'd be taking that walk that you speak of. A game here and a game there is the difference between us being in Indianapolis and Dallas instead of Marquette.
We shrug our shoulders at this time, but when we look back.....all of those games created our path.
You want a Naty you beat everyone in your path. We meet UConn sooner or later. Our ceiling is we can beat anybody. The Marquette TN PU MSU NW MD PSU and PU losses made us who were are. If we dont play our best we can lose to good not great teams. BTT and NCAAs show we can play great for 6 straight wins. Keep it up for 3 more and take home a NATY.
Feels like our year.
Feels like our year.
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Since the season started, UConn and Purdue have been on a collision course. They clearly have been the two best teams all year. After God knows how many games have been played around the country this year....that matchup is three games away. Realistically, only Illinois or/and Tennessee stand in the way of that matchup.
Let's hope we ruin it.
A discussion I had with someone today about loving your team and the dislike/ hatred you have for rivals.
If you knew there was a 0% chance Illinois wins the title would you rather
A) Lose to Uconn but Purdue also loses before the final 4. Or
B) Make it to the title game but lose to Purdue for the 3rd time and have to watch them celebrate and deal with their fans always having that game over us?
If you knew there was a 0% chance Illinois wins the title would you rather
A) Lose to Uconn but Purdue also loses before the final 4. Or
B) Make it to the title game but lose to Purdue for the 3rd time and have to watch them celebrate and deal with their fans always having that game over us?
If i had the magic wand, i don't think there's any way i could wave 'A' into reality.
Were talking about forgoing two more tournament victories and the joy that brings the players, coaches, and families, etc.
But 'B' would be extremely painful from the fans' perspective, or at least mine, not because Purdue is such a hated rival (I don't view them that way, or at least not to the degree I do certain other rivals), but because it would mean another program gets their championship before us.
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
I made this same prediction 12 days ago..........as evidenced by my 3 bracket submissions.
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
Nah. Anything can happen on any given night. It's the NCAA tournament. We gave Purdue a battle without TSJ.
Better examples: 1983 NC State and 1985 Villanova.
I’ve been holding on to this Illini story for a while now, wondering when the right time to share it would be. With the biggest and quite possibly final game of the season today, it feels right to tell it today.
I’m a college student at Illinois. Last fall, me and my brother were playing 7 on 7 intramural flag football. Our team was warming up right before the game started (games are played at the ARC fields, corner of First and Stadium) and sizing up the other team. A bunch of their guys arrive right before the ref blows his whistle to get the game started. I hear two of my teammates whispering to each other. Our defense walked out onto the field, choosing assignments, and all of a sudden, lining up across from my brother in a wide receiver stance, is a 6-6, 225 lb grown man with tattoos and two strands of multicolored hair across his face. My jaw drops. As you might have guessed by now, it’s Terrence Shannon Jr.
Keep in mind that this is an intramural flag football team. We have 1 guy who got D-2 football offers, and the rest of us played high school sports. We don’t have anyone on TSJ’s level, which is so far above ours we can’t even see it.
The game starts, and it’s insane how good Shannon is. He had a target on the sideline on a ball three feet over his head, and he jumped up and caught it like it was nothing. Second drive, he used one hand to snag a ball in the back of the endzone with a guy damn near blanketing him. Third drive, his team had the ball on their own 20 (field is 60 yards long). We can’t give up anything deep and we’ll go into the half down a score, which would be a win for us. They have enough time for two plays. The first one is a wide receiver screen to Shannon on my side of the field.
When you watch him on TV, he’s fast. When you watch him in person, he’s faster. When you are trying to tackle him, good luck. I was a yard behind him when he caught the ball. He took two strides and blew past half our team. A juke move and the entire defense except my brother Jack was chasing after him. Shannon angled to the sideline and my brother planted there. Either Terrence would have to cut back inside to all the other defenders or he could head out of bounds. He chose option 3: go through the defender. He ran full speed into Jack and bowled him over.
I am only slightly ashamed to admit that my first thought was not of my own sibling, but of TSJ’s health. If he got hurt, I thought, our basketball team is going to suck. Terrence didn’t even go down. He stumbled out of bounds, turned to the ref and started asking if Jack could get in his way like that. My brother came up holding his wrist (day-after photo below) but said he could play through it.
The other team ended up scoring the next play, and after halftime Terrence only played a couple of snaps on defense. I managed to pull his flag on an interception he was returning, and after the game (we lost by more than a few) he was out of there before most of the team had walked off of the field.
This Illini season has been amazing in so many ways, but for me the biggest moments have been watching “Transition Terrence” turn into a freight train with the ball in his hands. All I can do is watch and grin as he takes off down the court, just like that screen pass, and has the same level of success against D-1 basketball players as he did against our team of college guys that night. Best of luck to him and all of the Illini!
I’m a college student at Illinois. Last fall, me and my brother were playing 7 on 7 intramural flag football. Our team was warming up right before the game started (games are played at the ARC fields, corner of First and Stadium) and sizing up the other team. A bunch of their guys arrive right before the ref blows his whistle to get the game started. I hear two of my teammates whispering to each other. Our defense walked out onto the field, choosing assignments, and all of a sudden, lining up across from my brother in a wide receiver stance, is a 6-6, 225 lb grown man with tattoos and two strands of multicolored hair across his face. My jaw drops. As you might have guessed by now, it’s Terrence Shannon Jr.
Keep in mind that this is an intramural flag football team. We have 1 guy who got D-2 football offers, and the rest of us played high school sports. We don’t have anyone on TSJ’s level, which is so far above ours we can’t even see it.
The game starts, and it’s insane how good Shannon is. He had a target on the sideline on a ball three feet over his head, and he jumped up and caught it like it was nothing. Second drive, he used one hand to snag a ball in the back of the endzone with a guy damn near blanketing him. Third drive, his team had the ball on their own 20 (field is 60 yards long). We can’t give up anything deep and we’ll go into the half down a score, which would be a win for us. They have enough time for two plays. The first one is a wide receiver screen to Shannon on my side of the field.
When you watch him on TV, he’s fast. When you watch him in person, he’s faster. When you are trying to tackle him, good luck. I was a yard behind him when he caught the ball. He took two strides and blew past half our team. A juke move and the entire defense except my brother Jack was chasing after him. Shannon angled to the sideline and my brother planted there. Either Terrence would have to cut back inside to all the other defenders or he could head out of bounds. He chose option 3: go through the defender. He ran full speed into Jack and bowled him over.
I am only slightly ashamed to admit that my first thought was not of my own sibling, but of TSJ’s health. If he got hurt, I thought, our basketball team is going to suck. Terrence didn’t even go down. He stumbled out of bounds, turned to the ref and started asking if Jack could get in his way like that. My brother came up holding his wrist (day-after photo below) but said he could play through it.
The other team ended up scoring the next play, and after halftime Terrence only played a couple of snaps on defense. I managed to pull his flag on an interception he was returning, and after the game (we lost by more than a few) he was out of there before most of the team had walked off of the field.
This Illini season has been amazing in so many ways, but for me the biggest moments have been watching “Transition Terrence” turn into a freight train with the ball in his hands. All I can do is watch and grin as he takes off down the court, just like that screen pass, and has the same level of success against D-1 basketball players as he did against our team of college guys that night. Best of luck to him and all of the Illini!
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