Illini fall short of regular-season perfection         

By Greg Taylor

[MARCH 7, 2005]  Wow -- I didn't see this one coming! I know all the experts told me to look out for the final regular-season game at Ohio State. Everyone from Vitale to Mariotti to good old Digger said Illinois could have its hands full in the land of the Buckeye. Even my great friend and co-host of "Fandamonium," Jeff Mayfield, told me Saturday night to get ready for a dogfight. But I just wasn't buying it -- I really thought Illinois would end up with about a 10-point victory to move to 30-0. And, if you watched the first 30 minutes of the game (which I did not -- Sunday morning worship), it sounds like Illinois looked OK and was actually up by 10 with 9½ minutes to play.

But what happened down the stretch has rarely happened this season: Illinois became stale on offense and Ohio State became the aggressor -- and in the end the Buckeyes made the big plays needed to beat the Illini.

Three factors seemed to loom large in this game:

First, Ohio State played their game of the year. Many have said the No. 1 team always gets their opponents' best game. This was definitely true Sunday. Like the game against Missouri, the home game with Iowa and the road game at Michigan, Illinois faced a team ready to roll, and in each case, the Illini had their hands full, especially down the stretch. Yesterday, however, Ohio State made huge, difficult baskets, and Illinois had no answer. All the credit in the world should go to the Buckeyes, and man, is that hard for me to type!

Second, I thought Illinois looked tired down the stretch. I wonder if the celebration that lasted late Thursday night contributed to the Illini fatigue. Don't forget, this was supposed to be a 1 p.m. game, and the execs at CBS moved it to 11 bells -- which I think is a terrible time to play basketball (or football for that matter). Sunday was the first game I can remember all three guards playing at a sub-par level -- my guess is this will not happen again. I'm sad for the players, because an undefeated season was there for the taking -- but, bottom line, everyone associated with the Orange and Blue would trade regular-season achievement for a Final Four appearance, or, dare I say, a national title.

Third, while they would never admit it, I wonder if the Illini had already started to lock into the postseason mind-set. Let me say this -- I would not want to be Michigan or Northwestern on Friday morning at the United Center. Oh, yeah, the SI jinx -- sorry, we're not buying that at all.

So where are we at today? Illinois is 29-1, by far the best record in D-I ball. Illinois should still be the No. 1 team in the land (No. 2 at worst) and is still a lock, in my humble opinion, for NCAA games at Indy and Chicago. And this year is still the greatest regular season in Illini basketball -- and many more great moments lie ahead! So hang in there Illini nation, and get ready for a great March of postseason basketball.

[Greg Taylor]

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