It's such an infectious thing. One player elevates his game and pushes his team forward, and then another player catches fire, and suddenly the entire team believes that something great is about to happen. And so do the coaches. And so do the fans
That empty section you saw behind the Illinois bench wasn't the Illinois section. That was the UConn section (for the second game). The Illinois section was directly across the court from the Illinois bench. It's the NCAA Tournament rules. Each game
For the last three years, I've compiled what I call the "IlliniBoard NERDstat Index" during the football season. I'd take ESPN's FPI, Bill Connelly's SP+, Brian Fremeau's FEI, and Kelley Ford's K-Ford Ratings and I'd combine them into one ranking. I
It's been a long week. My greatest fear for any Illini football season -- the number 5 followed by the number 7 -- played out right in front of me. And this time, I had to watch it end with a missed two-point conversion. I spent a lot of time Monday