there are a lot of good things happening at schools in the state this year:

-Illini are off to a fantastic start and are ranked #10
-De Paul looks like it has turned a corner under Purnell
-UIC and Loyola are both off to good starts with second year coaches
-the downstate MVC schools are all off to good starts
-NIU is providing easy wins for the rest of the schools in this state

Has the dead era of basketball in this state finally ended?

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Illlinois State is on the upswing as well. There are actually two teams from the Missouri Valley
conference in the top 25 so they will have their work cut out for them.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I think the Ugie Braves are also on the upswing in the MVC. They played Michigan very tough at Michigan and have had a nice pre conference schedule

I have no idea why SIU fell off the face of the earth after having a program that you could pencil in as 1-2 in the MVC every year and some time in the top 25.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I meant to post something to you about Loyola, seems there record is a lot better this year. They played Michigan St. pretty good the other day and Averkamp had a monster game with 25 pts and 8 boards.

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2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

Illinois started 15-3 and 4-1 in the Big Ten last year, probably with more talent.

But, this team plays better basketball at a pace that suits the talent. However, I fully expect the bubble to burst come Big 10 season. They won't collapse like last year but a 4th place finish is probably the best that could be hoped for.

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My Maserati does 186.

I don't know. College basketball in this state has been bad for many years now. While it's encouraging to see the likes of Illinois & DePaul doing well vs. non-conference opponents, I'm not ready to say if the college game is really back in this state. Reality might smack all of these schools in the face when their respective conference schedules start up soon.

The arrow is pointing up for Loyola. The new facilities look good which is having a positive effect on recruiting.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Interesting breakdown on Illinois' Brandon Paul from Luke Winn from SI.... His power rankings each week
are a solid read for any stat starved college basketball fan

Illinois Fighting Illini (11-0)
After watching him for three seasons, I had written off Brandon Paul as a high-usage, low-efficiency drain on Illinois' offense. New coach John Groce took a better approach: "I didn't have any presupposition about Brandon," he told The (Alton, Ill.) Telegraph. What Groce did was move away from Bruce Weber's motion offense, put Paul into predominantly pick-and-roll sets -- accounting for 35.7 percent of his offense, compared to just 18.8 percent last year, according to Synergy -- and watch him blossom into a legitimate star. Paul is using exactly the same amount of possessions as he was as a junior, but he's taking higher-percentage shots and committing fewer turnovers, as this chart shows:




Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/news/2 ... z2ExIayiYY

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

You forgot to mention the monumental news of Chicago State joining the WAC!

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7 Big East Catholic basketball teams are thinking about leaving... time for Loyola to join them and create the Catholic 8. College basketball would never be the same, we would have God on our side.

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team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

No mention of the Cats... gotta think they'd have a better chance at doing good things than either Loyola or UIC. But I don't follow either for whatever that's worth.

Nope. God followed Notre Dame to the ACC and made all the football jobs there better than the ones in the Big Ten too.

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The Court will accord substantial deference to the government's immigration policies, particularly those that implicate matters of national security.

Poor NIU. They have a nice arena, but lack the interest and wherewithal to field anything that vaguely resembles a basketball team.

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I feel pretty similarly about wildcat basketball and football. I loved the struggle to get out of the basement. However, everything has just plateued and much of the superficial success is based in favorable scheduling rather than good play.

Loyola and UIC are in a conference that just lost its bellcow (Butler) and has been getting second teams into the tournament of late. I like their chances at the post season over the Cats having to wait out the last four bids on selection sunday.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Might have plateaued in football, but they are still a very exciting team to watch... they've been so over the last decade. Basketball has been tough, but heading slowly but surely in the right direction over the last couple of years. We had the best recruiting class I've seen in years last year... hopefully this is the year we finally make the dance.

I apologize for my ignorance

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

#GoCats

WHY AM I CURSED WITH SUCH INTELLIGENCE!?!? WHY?!?

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My Maserati does 186.

You are the Cassandra of the CSFMB. It is a curse and a blessing.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Lance Armstrong wasn't the only one revealed as a fraud on TV yesterday. NIT anyone?

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“How do you get to be president and you’re stupid?” Donald J Trump - 4/10/25
When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus. - Turkish Proverb

More like, no postseason this year.

Who? Illinois? That was a bad loss to a subpar Northwestern team on their home floor.

Northern Illinois just lost a game 42-25. Four points at the half. There's more of that patented NIU ignominy.

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They need an ALL STATE Tourney and if the State Funded School, Illinois doesnt wish to participate fuck em, they will look like A holes and people will lose further interest in them.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

No! No teams made the tourney last year
.....what Illini this year? because of the over hyped Big Ten

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.