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PORTLAND, Ore. – Confession is good for the soul. Here is mine.

Comparing Illini freelance basketball skills to the opposition this season always left me feeling like CBS' Seth Davis, who made himself infamous in Illinois by predicting exactly what happened. He is, obviously, no relation to the UI's Mike and Mike.

Even in a 24-win season, it was sometimes hard to wrap your mind around the fact that, most of the time, the Illini were able to overcome their individual shortcomings with guts and laudable teamwork.

Maybe it was the memory of last season (16-19). When I looked out onto the court, I saw "Bruce" Copperfield pulling an elephant out of his hat.

Then came Thursday and more magic. Illinois did a disappearing act that found it trailing 68-51 after 35 minutes at the Rose Garden. That's not an easy trick for a 7-footer (Mike Tisdale, zero points). That's unlikely magic for a crack defensive unit that got buried by an avalanche of Western Kentucky three-pointers (9 of 18).

Yes, they rallied behind seniors Trent Meacham (24 points) and Calvin Brock (14 points, 10 rebounds) in a furious finish that would have topped the 2005 comeback against Arizona. But the 17-point deficit was too much to overcome as the Hilltoppers, putting five men in double figures, converted just enough free throws to survive.

This 76-72 result was no fluke. Check the rebound totals where, through the first 32 minutes, Western Kentucky permitted two offensive rebounds on 26 UI misses. That's all you need to know. The shorter Hilltoppers ruled the physical aspects of the game.

Failing their boards

The first half resembled Saturday's Purdue game with everything going wrong for the Illini.

Demetri McCamey missed two open treys and had a drive-in blocked, and the UI's 2-for-9 shooting left it behind 7-4 after five minutes in which McCamey was removed, Brock had to leave the court unexpectedly (he returned with a furor) and sub Alex Legion missed a 15-footer long and wide.

Illinois led just once thereafter, 10-9, on easy goals by Meacham, McCamey and Mike Davis, and the Hilltoppers exploded with a rash of treys while Illinois missed one open shot after another. Orlando Mendez-Valdez drained two particularly long bombs, falling backward on the second one, and the 12-minute audit read 27-13 with Western Kentucky dominating the boards, 18-8, and making five treys to Illinois' none.

Every time Illinois sought to rally, the Hilltoppers responded by shattering the once-proud UI defense. When Meacham and Dominique Keller pulled Illinois within 50-41 midway in the second half, Sergio Kerusch and Jeremy Evans responded with consecutive dunks. It was 61-46 under the 10-minute mark and 68-51 before the Illini, desperate and still determined, went on a game-ending 21-8 run.

This dog shows some bite

Everyone loves the underdog, particularly when it is a smaller school, but Thursday was a day for the big dog to howl. Except for Illinois, every case where members of the BCS – football's six largest conferences – had an opportunity to advance, they did ... 12 of them.

LSU got it started with a big jump against Butler and, when the Bulldogs rallied, the Bengal Tigers were able to stave them off. At the same time, Texas A&M handled Brigham Young, and the dominance of Big Brother was sustained right through late-night triumphs by UCLA and Oklahoma.

This day, except for Illinois, was ruled by more highly recruited athletes honed by stiffer competition.

Of course, in four cases a BCS team had to advance out of Maryland-Cal, Washington-Mississippi State, Texas-Minnesota and Clemson-Michigan matchups.

Washington, like Gonzaga, will have what amounts to a homecourt advantage against Purdue and Western Kentucky. Each Upper Northwest school will have almost half of the Rose Garden crowd. Question is, will they support each other?

Loren Tate writes for The News-Gazette. He can be reached at ltate@news-gazette.com.