University of Illinois beat, Champaign

Yep, same one Dye Pack. Illinois was, without a doubt, the better team, and that's why the Illini were ranked No. 1 all season.

 

Go ask Lute Olsen if he thinks Illinois basketball program is underrated.

 

Except when they weren't and Wake Forest was.

 

Because those November polls have such a large bearing on what happens in March.

 

Which is good, since many voters and writers believed a team with no defensive ability was the best in the country in November (actually December, I believe, but whatev.)

 

Fine, a good majority of the season.

Wake was still a No. 2 seed come tournament time, so it's not like those voters were way off.  A team by led Chris Paul that drilled UNC and beat Duke has some allure.

 

And then lost in the second round to an inferior West Virginia team.

Even when Wake posted all those good-looking regular season wins, I still knew they would go belly-up once the NCAAs arrived. That program is always missing something that keeps it from getting over the hump in March/April. Under Odom in the 90s, the guards didn't have the guts to make big plays when Duncan got double and triple-teamed. Under Prosser, they've been too soft defensively.

 

For the record, Andy Katz picked Wake to win it all last year when the tournament BEGAN. Perhaps that's the type of uneducated hype that was being referenced when this argument began. The ACC always gets more attention because of the tradition of Duke and UNC. It's like certain coaches and some pundits reason that Duke's three national titles and UNC's three since 1982 somehow make Virginia and Clemson more dangerous.

To argue that Illinois was underrated last year is silly. They won 37 games and were No. 1 from the moment they pistol-whipped Wake to the moment that UNC beat them for the title. And rightfully, they didn't lose that No. 1 ranking when they lost in Columbus.

Out of curiosity, anyone venture to guess how much this job opening would pay?

 

I would guess it could range between 35 and 50,000. Just a guess though. A buddy who works there said that would be a good guestimate.

 

I would guess lower.

 

Dawson will be in for a real awakening going from freedom of Illini to high security at UK in covering BB. But Brett has inexperience the paranoid Cats before so that should help some. But writing for TCP and C-J are much, much different.

 

what? uk's paranoid?
the media is just trying to destroy them you know. all jerry tipton cares about is getting another pulitzer. man, i canceled my subscription to the h-l because of that. i love koolaid.
yeah, it's crazy there. rational thinking be damned.