I don’t even know where to begin when it comes to what happened on Saturday night, so I’m just going to randomly type out what comes to my mind when I think of that disgusting game.

- Illinois was outscored 32-19 after taking a 49-41 lead.  Nice finish…

- Mike Tisdale did a much better job of not fouling.  Unfortunately, that means he also did a much better job of not guarding anyone.

- Illinois shots 55% from the field while Northwestern shot 40%.  How do you lose?  Oh wait, you allow them to shoot 32 free throws.  Never mind.

- If anybody out there finds Mike Davis, please return him to Bruce Weber. 

- It looks like we are NIT bound.  Then again, you have to be above .500 to get into that.  At the pace we’re going, this also might not happen.

- Even though things look bad, this isn’t Bruce Weber’s fault.  It’s still up to the kids to figure it out.  My stance will not change on that regardless of how this season ends.

Here are the updated prediction standings.  Northwestern won 73-68, so the Wildcats were +5 on the real score difference.

Name                                                  W                    L                      RSDT*

Tom Young (NW 73-70)                    9                     2                         81

Reillini (NW 80-74)                             8                     3                         90

jweeks (ILL 75-68)                              7                     4                         107

dave1956 (NW 71-63)                        7                     3                          81

Jshaw (ILL 68-64)                               7                     3                          84

PeterE (NW 60-50)                             2                     2                          39

* - Real Score Difference Total

My Prediction

ILLINOIS 64       PENN STATE 62

Illinois has lost six of it’s last ten and that little 4-0 start in Big Ten play has almost been erased.  Mike Davis is a mystery, the freshman are still freshman, and the defense is still a giant question mark.  When playing at a building not named Assembly Hall, the Illini can’t get it done.  I don’t know if I will go as far as to say they choke, but they definitely play differently.  So, it makes sense to pick Illinois to win at State College, PA, doesn’t it?  Well, no…not really.

You’re probably wondering what kind of lettuce I’m smoking.  First of all, I don’t smoke lettuce, I eat it.  Secondly, the reason I’m picking the Illini to win is only because it doesn’t make sense.  This season has been disappointingly bizarre, and all signs point to that continuing until some sort of consistency is formed.  Penn State is a mediocre team with a great player.  That make-up alone almost beat Illinois at the Assembly Hall.  Now that Penn State is at home, they should win this game.  For some reason, I don’t think they will, and it will be because of what PSU doesn’t do, and not because of what Illinois does.

This has all the makings for an ugly game.  It won’t be an epic 37-33 battles, but if that were to happen, there is no reason for me to be surprised about it.  Let’s face it fans, this season stinks.  After an awful football season, this was supposed to be our saving grace.  Instead, it’s just part two of a stink fest.  All we can hope for is for this team to figure out before the year ends.  I don’t care anymore about the post season.  At some point before the end of the year, I want to see this team put together a good 3-4 games where they get it done on both sides of the floor.  Having a good 3-4 game stretch will not only give the team confidence going into next season, but it will give the fans confidence about the future.  Just from what I’ve read on IlliniHQ, some of your aren’t all that optimistic. 

It’s now time for your to predict Wednesday’s outcome.  Which team will stink less?  Also, do you think next year’s recruiting class will save this team in the 2010-11 season?  It’s a pretty good class on paper.  Weber and company couldn’t have done much better.  Let’s just take it one game at a time and beat PSU.

I-L-L…