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CHAMPAIGN – Just because they both work for CBS doesn't mean Seth Davis and Russ Hamilton agree on everything. Especially when it comes to Illinois basketball.

CBS studio analyst Davis has been an Illini antagonist all season. He waited until late in the season to put Bruce Weber's team in his Top 25. And he picked Western Kentucky to upset Illinois in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

WCIA general manager Hamilton expects an Illinois win. And thinks Davis is wrong.

"Unfortunately, he happens to appear on WCIA, and those are not the same feelings that all of us at WCIA have," Hamilton said. "But I can't control his opinions."

When Davis says something unkind about the Illini, Hamilton hears about it from the fans.

"They'll say, 'WCIA, I thought you were Illini,' " Hamilton said. "They attribute whatever somebody in CBS New York says to WCIA."

Hamilton is happy to have Illinois back on his station during the NCAA tournament. A year ago, the Illini didn't make the field, leaving Hamilton with a financial and programming gap.

"It gives us a reason to watch the NCAAs," Hamilton said.

This year's tournament will fall during a rating period, which is good for WCIA. Ratings help determine future ad rates. The higher the ratings, the more WCIA can charge for commercial time.

In a perfect WCIA world, Thursday's Illinois game would be an early-evening tipoff. With the game starting closer to 9, Hamilton figures to lose a small part of his audience.

The Illinois-Western Kentucky game will be shown start to finish on WCIA, Hamilton said. The network isn't allowed to cut away from the home market for games that are marked "constant." That's the designation WCIA will have as long as Illinois remains in the tournament.

Hamilton can't get a constant label for other Big Ten games. So, though he wants to see conference teams as much as possible, fans should expect to be taken away at certain points. That's bad for Wisconsin, Purdue and Michigan State fans in the area.

"The only constant I can get is the Illinois game," Hamilton said.

Hamilton doesn't want a repeat of the 2004 Illinois- Cincinnati game, when CBS cut off WCIA viewers in the final minutes.

"Some guy back in New York punched the wrong button, evidently," Hamilton said.