Ya I agree. But but don't lead with Go Iowa!
Maybe go with, a #3 seed is possible if ......
For me, the sports rivals (or rival-like opponents or whatever) that I "hate" fall into two camps.*
(A) Unambiguous Hate - I literally enjoy these teams failing, and I'd be happy if they lost every game and just continued to become more and more irrelevant, lol.
(B) Hate Within the Rivalry - I often hate these teams even more than the teams in Group A, but I see value in them not being a joke for one reason or another ... mostly to do with my team benefiting from the rivalry remaining respectable, fun, nationally noteworthy, etc.
Iowa falls in Group B for me. Our rivalry with them is just a lot more fun when both programs are at least respectable and their fans are just as invested as ours ... that second one is especially important for me, as I have a ton of Iowa friends and it's annoying when they just cut their losses and check out because they're bad and I get fewer bragging rights, lol. So, I have no problem rooting for Iowa when it benefits the Illini, and a silver lining would be that our rivalry could potentially return to 2020-2022 status if McCollum keeps building them up.
* For those curious, as an Illini / Cubs / Bears fan, this is how I'd personally sort some teams. Sorry about the OT rant, haha.
GROUP A
(1) Indiana Basketball - Every year of humble pie served to this arrogant and delusional fan base is not only enjoyable but objectively good for Illinois. The older fans will NEVER learn that they're just another program, but the younger fans are already growing up being at least
somewhat skeptical of the stories of the good old days and how a return is just around the corner. There's only so much room at the top of the Big Ten, and neutering a traditional basketball contender right next door is great for the Illini. Plus, they're more obsessed with their rivalry with Purdue and even more delusional about their rivalry with Kentucky that there really is no incentive to "root for the rivalry to matter" or whatever. I want a 10-win Indiana basketball team that we pummel every year, haha.
(2) Northwestern Football - It's not really that I hate them that much, but we need to hammer home to all Illinoisans that this isn't some Iowa vs. Iowa State dynamic where we are "battling for Illinois" ... it's a Georgia vs. Georgia Tech dynamic where we are the Big Brother and we consider a loss to Northwestern to be something that, while it might happen from time to time, doesn't change that and is unexpected.
(3) Michigan Basketball - It's annoying enough to deal with Michigan being the conference's appointed Golden Child in football ... let's go back to the days of them being a joke of a basketball program like they were every year when I started getting into college basketball in the 2000s.
(4) Milwaukee Brewers - Nothing against the folks of Milwaukee (love that city) or Wisconsin (love that state!), but the Cubs are plenty full on rivalries. I absolutely loathe people who think it affords them status to "gatekeep" a rivalry, so I certainly won't claim that the Brewers "aren't our rivals" ... they are! Having many rivalries doesn't dilute the other, bigger ones ... Kentucky Basketball fans don't worry that their status is waning if they recognize Tennessee as a rival, haha. With that said, the NL Central is too crowded at the top if we always have to worry about a consistently good Brewers team, and we do!
GROUP B
(1) Missouri Basketball - Don't get me wrong, I HATE Missouri ... but it's just good for nobody involved when Braggin' Rights is a foregone conclusion and a joke. For one, it's a special atmosphere, and it would be a monumentally sad day in college sports if both sides ever determine to remove that game from St. Louis because it's no longer an event worth investing in. Building on that, it's the type of unique event that I think an entire generation of younger fans have not seen at its peak, and it would garner a lot of positive hype for our program and would be seen as cool and unique if/when it returns to the type of status that gets it on ESPN and FOX rather than SECN and BTN. A second more "tangible" reason here is that we are locked in to playing Missouri on a neutral floor every year. It's objectively good for us if they are top 50 in the NET, which REALLY isn't that hard to do, lol ... you just have to not suck!
(2) St. Louis Cardinals - I hate the Cardinals, but no true baseball fan can't have an enormous amount of respect for the tradition of that franchise and the (at least under normal circumstances) incredible support that city and Cardinal Nation in general has given that team over the years. It's the best rivalry in baseball, and I want both teams to be contenders at all times.
(3) Northwestern Basketball - In contrast to football, we are locked in to play the Kitties twice per year. It's just a huge inconvenience when they aren't at least top 75 in the NET so we can't pencil in a Quad 1 and Quad 2 victory each year!
(4) Green Bay Packers - I hate them and I hate their fans even more sometimes, but I can't help but maintain a fondness for a town that size (especially as someone who was born in not-too-dissimilar Peoria) having something as cool as an NFL team, let alone one of the more storied franchises with loyal fans. I'm also insanely jealous that they have handled the renovation and upkeep of Lambeau beautifully, while we completely botched the renovation of our historic and architecturally significant stadium to the point where we will now leave it and play in some soulless dome, inside like a bunch of pansies. This rivalry deserves two OUTDOOR, historic stadiums, period.
(5) Iowa Basketball - See comments above, but this rivalry becoming high profile is objectively good for us. I've known enough Iowa fans throughout my life and I have even seen enough polls on their message boards over the years to know that Iowa fans are likely the only other group besides Northwestern fans that would consider Illinois their biggest rival in basketball. Are other rivalries and long time series are great, but Indiana has Purdue, Purdue has Indiana, Michigan has MSU, Missouri has Kansas, etc. While Iowa does have Iowa State and (at least in hoops) lesser rivalries with Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, etc., the Illinois rivalry is still the best. Both fan bases deserve a mutual, nationally significant rivalry game, and it's less fun when Iowa is bad.
