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Illinois
receives No. 1 seed
in NCAA tourney!
By
Greg Taylor
[MARCH
12, 2001]
After
Illinois lost 58-56 to Indiana on Saturday at the Big Ten tourney,
most of the press gathered at the United Center were of the same
mindset: Illinois had lost their chance to earn a No. 1 seed in the
upcoming NCAA tourney. The LDN says thank goodness a bunch of
over-hyped sportswriters don’t get to decide the seeds. Despite a
poor showing on Saturday, Illinois still earned one of four coveted
No. 1 seeds — in fact, they were sent to the closest of the eight
first-and second-round sites: Dayton, Ohio.
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Illinois
will open action on Friday in Dayton against the winner of Tuesday’s
game between Winthrop and Northwestern State, the teams that were
rated No. 64 and No. 65 in the 65-team field. Other games being played
in the Midwest regional in Dayton include Tennessee vs. Charlotte
(Illinois will play the winner in round two), Syracuse vs. Hawaii and
Kansas vs. California State-Northridge. Second-round games in Dayton
will be played on Sunday.
The
Big Ten received two No. 1 seeds, as Michigan State was given the top
billing in the South region, and seven bids overall, the highest of
any conference in the land. The other two No. 1 seeds were given to
Duke, in the East, and Stanford, the top team in the West. One other
state school also received an NCAA bid, as Eastern Illinois was given
the No. 15 seed in the Midwest regional and will open play on Friday
in Kansas City against No. 2 seed Arizona. Both Bradley and Illinois
State should receive NIT bids early Monday morning.
Illini
players and coaches were both excited and grateful after the
announcement of the pairings. The LDN looks at four factors that
helped Illinois secure this top seed: First, Illinois finished the
season very strong, going 8-2 in the final 10 games. Second, Illinois
won the regular season conference title and beat co-champion Michigan
State in the teams’ only meeting during the season. Third, other
conference champions lost early in their respective tournaments,
including Iowa State and Florida. And finally, North Carolina, the
best of the four No. 2 seeds, lost by 26 points on Sunday to Duke and
limped to the finish line, going a very average 4-4 over their final
three weeks of the season.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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So
what does all of this mean for Illini fans who are ready for some March
success in the land of Lincoln? Four things: First, if Illinois brings
their A game each round, very few teams will be able to beat them.
However, Illinois has struggled to string together successive A’s
throughout the season. Second, Illinois could not have received a better
seed, as many of the so-called experts feel the Midwest region is the
weakest of the four regions, thus giving Illinois a great chance to enjoy
a deep NCAA run. Third, look for a third game this season versus Arizona
— on March 25 in San Antonio — with the winner going to the Final Four
(Illinois lost to Arizona in Hawaii by three and beat them in Chicago by
eight points in December). And finally, Illinois is the deepest team in
their region and one of the deepest teams in the tournament — a fact
that will come into play at some point in the tourney.
Illinois
fans all across the state are ready for the games to begin. Illinois
players cannot wait for the games to begin. What else needs to be said? GO
ILLINOIS!!!!
Illini notes
- LDN sends out congratulations
to Illini assistant coach Rob Judson, who was named head coach at
Northern Illinois University on Tuesday. Coach Judson will be
seriously missed in Champaign but deeply deserves this opportunity.
Rob is one of the nicest guys in the game and will find success in
DeKalb. And don’t be surprised to see coach Judson return to
Champaign someday — this time as head coach.
- Tickets for the Dayton
regional are sold out, and have been for quite a while.
- The buzz in Chicago had
Indiana naming Mike Davis head coach.
- The buzz in Chicago had
Michigan firing coach Brian Ellerbe and going after either Seton Hall’s
Tommy Amaker or former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino.
- Illinois has an all-time
record of 7-4 in the Big Ten tourney.
[Greg
Taylor]
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A
lethargic stretch early in the second half allowed IU to build a
cushion that they never relinquished. It was so ugly that the Illini
shot only 33 percent from the field and committed 12 costly turnovers.
Illinois had only one player in double figures, Frank Williams with
14. Lincoln's Brian Cook did come up big with nine points and five
rebounds but didn't seem to get the ball enough to help our cause even
more.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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Apparently
the loss did not sway the NCAA selection committee (see Greg
Taylor's article) too much, as they still rewarded the Illini's
season-long, hard-fought Big Ten championship with a No. 1 seed in the
Midwest! That means that Illinois will take on the winner of Tuesday night's
game between Northwestern State and Winthrop. That game is scheduled to tip
off at 11:10 on Friday morning.
GO ILLINI!
[Jeff
Mayfield]
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