Let me get this straight. The Illini backed into the tournament and yet still somehow got a 9 seed. Apparently the selection committee did not watch them play much late in the year. No team in the country has proven they can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory like the Illini. Sure, if you just watched them play for five minutes here or there, they look like a legit team, but then you would be missing the part where they fall apart at the end of every game. I guess I will just be happy that the computers love them for some reason, and the made the tournament.
And talk about awkward for Bruce Weber. Bruce is on the hot seat and may have to make a run in the tournament to save his job. No big deal, he would just have to beat the last two Illinois coaches to make that run. In the first round the Illini will face Lon Kruger, who left Illinois for the NBA in 2000, and is currently the coach of UNLV. If they beat UNLV, they will get rewarded with the #2 team in the country, Kansas, led by their last coach Bill Self.
I don't think Illinois fans hold any ill will against Lon Kruger, but the same cannot be said for Bill Self. Illini fans will probably never forgive Bill Self for Illinois when the program was at its best and ready to take off. So, if Bruce wants to win over the doubting Illini fans, beating Self and Kansas would definitely do the trick. It is just too bad for him, that there is about 1% chance of that happening. Kansas is just too good, and the Illini would somehow have to win a game just to get to play them.
PS - Those guys are trying so hard to look cool in that picture.
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