And Now For Something Completely Different…

As the collective consciousness of Illini fans swung back southeast a good 2300 miles or so on Sunday morning, I feel like the general consensus surrounding this fast approaching hoops season (it TOTALLY snuck up on me) has been something along the lines of “oh, Elite Eight last year...well, yeah, that’s just what we are as a program now so let’s just commence with the regularly scheduled beat downs and we’ll see you all in March.” Those visions of grandeur were rather rudely interrupted by Ole Miss in short order today. The Rebels controlled today’s exhibition from wire to wire - leading by as much as 26 on their way to a 91-74 win that wasn’t really even that close.

Meanwhile, by contrast, it appears Brad Underwood was sensing something far different leading up to today. By the general tone he struck in the post-game he seemed almost gleeful in response to the drubbing his team absorbed. As he accurately pointed out, this game was over in the first four minutes. The Rebels punched Illinois in the mouth to the tune of a 20-9 run before the first media time out and never looked back.