More Fingernail Chewing Straight Ahead
In my last blog....I pointed out that a lot of the "bracketology" that is the daily diet of college basketball fans.... can wind up being a lot of guesswork.
Well...there is one thing I am pretty sure of now.
After the disappointing 62-60 loss to Minnesota at the Assembly Hall on Saturday....the Illini basketball team is in the position of having to play themselves "off"of the NCAA tournament "bubble".
I went into the Minnesota game in Champaign on Saturday thinking that a win against the Gophers would nail down the NCAA bid. At 11-5 in the Big 10 conference race...the Illni would have been guaranteed no worse than an 11-7 finish and with a Senior Day home game against Wisconsin still to go....the Illini would have had a shot at 12 conference wins ...13 with an upset of Ohio State in Columbus.
But now trying to recover their balance after the home loss to the Gophers....Bruce Weber's team is now facing a Buckeye team closing in on a Big Ten Championship ....on their home floor in Columbus.....on Senior Night. To say the least...the Illini will be big underdogs late Tuesday night. (9 pm Eastern time)
After the mid-week clash in Columbus.... the Illini return home for a home game on Sunday with the Badgers....who have Jon Leuer back.... and will be looking for revenge after Illinois beat them in Madison earlier this season.
Obviously...the Illini will have their hands full at 11am on Sunday as well.
By losing to Minnesota the Illini also missed a chance to nail down a first round bye in the Big Ten Tournament next week. The Gophers still have some work to do to catch the Illini....but they have the easier schedule of the two teams and would win any tiebreaker with the Illini. Since they beat Illinois head-to-head this past weekend... Minnesota could nudge Illinois into having to play on Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament...in the #6-11 game on the first day of the tourney.
That would not be fun.
The Minnesota game on Saturday was a snapshot of different events that have characterized the Illini team this season. Slow starts.....great comebacks....nail-biting finishes. Illini fans have witnessed spectacular wins (Vanderbilt.....at Clemson..... Michigan State....at Wisconsin) and some gut-wrenching losses (Gonzaga.... Minnesota.... Bradley ... Georgia). They have had buzzer-beating finishes (Indiana...Utah). It has been a wild roller-coaster ride.
As we head into the final week of the Big Ten regular season with the Big Ten Tournament looming....and an NCAA tournament berth hanging in the balance.... I have one question for Illini fans everywhere.
How are your fingernails doing?
After the Minny loss I quit worrying. This team is what it is because we simply don't have the talent that the other upper division B10 teams have.
But the other thing that is lacking that we had last year with virtually the same players is mental toughness, a sense of urgency and something to prove and yes physical toughness on the inside. Who ever thought that Chester Frazier meant that much to this team. We saw what we might become when he was too hurt to play in the B10 tourney and the NCAA...not good.
I do think that we should be....no BETTER be much improved and better next year given the talent we'll have coming in plus another year of experience for our Jr's and Freshmen. If we can't get to the Sweet 16 in the next two years then Bruce is not the guy who can take us to another Final Four. Just GETTING to the NCAA has not been the goal for Illinois over the last 20 years. That was expected. Going deep (Sweet 16 or better) is what Illinois fans have been used to and expect for this program and Illini nation is getting impatient.
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