Wednesday, March 18, 2009

March Madness: Welcome back, Illini

Tomorrow is one of the best days of the year. That's right - the first round of the NCAA tournament, one of the rare instances where the early rounds with some fairly mediocre teams almost always seems to top the later rounds with the higher seeds playing each other.

Even better, the dark cloud that rested atop the Illinois basketball program seems to have been lifted. Illinois is ahead of schedule, notching a very impressive 5 seed in a season where most projected another down year for the team. To be honest, I was even ready to impose a "self-exile" from Illinois basketball if there was to be, yet again, a crappy year.

However, after Illinois football did it's usual incontinence in their pants after ONE good season, I was a little less reluctant to jump on board. It started with a surprise victory at Vanderbilt, which, at the time, was a huge boost for Illinois and evidence that this team may have something. Then it continued through a one-loss non-conference schedule that included the 9th straight win against Missouri (God, I hate their fans so very much). To top off the great start, Illinois beat then #10 ranked Purdue . . . at Purdue . . . in overtime.

Sure, there were some nasty blips along the way: 33 points at home against Penn State, 38 points at Minnesota, and another loss to Penn State who, by the way, has the best record of any Big Ten team against Bruce Weber (who woulda thunk it?) But there were great wins, too - a drubbing of Purdue at home, a solid by-the-books win against a hungry Wisconsin team, two wins against our arch-enemy, the Indiana Hoosiers, and a tremendous offensive display in the second win against Ohio State - four days after the 33-point PSU debacle.

So here we are, tipping off at 9pm from Portland, Ore. tomorrow night against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. I remember Dee, Deron, and Augustine's freshman year, along with Brian Cook's tremendous senior campaign, that saw a first-round matchup against the same program. Things have changed, of course. One thing that separates this year, however, is the fact that nearly every "expert" predicts Western Kentucky to win. After all, they say, at least one 12-seed beats a 5, and Illinois is the weakest of the 5-seeds.

Really? Utah? Purdue (who Illinois beat twice, once quite handily)? Florida State? I don't buy it, and it's not just the orange-colored glasses. Illinois should, and WILL win tomorrow, if they bring their A-game. Given the fact that there is a wealth of bulletin board material predicting them to lose, and that WKU was average-at-best away from home this year, I'll take Vegas' word over the experts: Illinois by 4.5 points.

Not the biggest of spreads, of course. But trust in Vegas. They know their stuff, and, sorry, Seth Davis - you know little more than Coco the Monkey.

So, Go Illini, let's get this first win, and see what happens Saturday. Either way, a great season, and the best is yet to come.

PREDICTION:

Illinois 68, WKU 53

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