Illini, Northwestern Play Close Game - Guess Who Won

No, it's not a surprise. Despite Northwestern's best efforts to give the game away in the final minute, Illinois came close but (naturally) still departed from Welsh-Ryan Arena with a loss. Left unanswered is whether a season split allows the NUrds to still claim the title of "Chicago's Big Ten Basketball Team". Of course, since we lost to UIC too, I don't think it's us.

The good news - unlike with the losses at PSU and IU, I was spared the spectacle of NUrds fans storming the court.

The bad news - no, wait, that is the bad news. The fact that they didn't storm the court leads me to believe that they expected their team to win. How sad is it that our program has descended to the point where Northwestern fans think it's not a big deal to beat us.

The worst news - this was probably our last chance at a road win, which means we'll finish (at best) 9-9 in conference play and, for the fourth time in five years, will need to win at least one Big Ten Tournament game to get into the NCAA tournament. But at least we won't have to worry about any more court-stormings!

Bruce Weber - making Selection Sunday nerve-wracking since 2007.

We're Number One (in the State)!

First Southern Illinois, then Northern Illinois, and now the NUrds ("Chicago's Big Ten Team", my a$$). If nothing else, the Illini can lay claim to being the best team in the state of Illinois this year, and as a result we truly deserve the Land of Lincoln Trophy. Just don't let Zook get another contract extension based on it.

And after two losing seasons, it's going to feel good to do this again...