Well fwiw, the ACA does qualify "batshit crazy" as a pre-existing, yet covered condition. And no, I'm not batshit crazy enough to waste my time on this website and its malfunctioning search feature on a Friday night, certainly not in a quiet house with a stocked fridge & bar.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

Yet, here you are...

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

Well I am left speechless after this one.

But the sadder thing is just how correct Midge is about public research universities.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

My work here is done.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

Pot meet kettle.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

I wasn't the one who said I had much better things to do this evening. Dementia is setting in fast. You need to write things down.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

A little gin & psychopsilocybin this evening?

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

If only...

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

Sorry, I typed a bit too fast earlier. I earlier wanted to assure you that I wasn't going to spend time with this site's search feature
in an attempt to directly pin earlier proof of your Fox like/and love of Fox surveying.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

U of I lets 19 year old in bars. That has to count for something right?

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You'd have been wasting your time. I haven't watched any cable news of any sort in well over a decade. Keep using that broadbrush. It suits you well.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

Yeah, until you turn 21. Or have kids actually old enough to consider going to ChamBana.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

Okay, I'll accept your characterization of the Illinois basketball program. Could you please provide a list of the programs on the two tiers above Illinois?

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

bigfan, please delete this thread.

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You know me like that.

As a very casual fan, here's my try at it:

First tier, elite programs anyone can associate with college basketball greatness:
Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA, Indiana (lost decade notwithstanding)

Second tier, programs that have been very good and won championships but haven't had iconic, sustained dominance:
Connecticut, Louisville, Villanova, Florida, Syracuse, Michigan State, NC State

Third tier, teams that are in the consciousness as relevant programs but aren't contending or haven't in a long time:
Illinois, Wisconsin, Marquette, Wake Forest, Georgetown, Cincinnati, Washington, UNLV, Pitt, Maryland, Gonzaga

Fiftieth tier
DePaul

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But that's not really right. Illinois, Georgetown, and Marquette are better programs than some of your "second tier" teams. And DePaul has been asleep before and come back strong. In the 70s they considered dropping to Division II. Then came Corzine and Aguirre.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I guess it depends on how heavily you weigh the recent past against the distant past. Florida had the back-to-back and shit else, but I know I remember it and place arguably undue importance on it.

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UConn has been a top tier program over the last 15 years and has won more titles too in that time span.

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See, I don't think Florida is a program on the level of Illinois historically. First, it's a football school. Now, they have Billy Donovan. But when he's gone, I just don't see them picking right up and going on. My guess would be that Donovan is the next coach at Kentucky. We'll see how long that takes and where it leaves Florida.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Is that because of a longstanding program with history or because of a singular coach?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I guess I don't buy longstanding making a team top tier. I think UConn is top tier because of Calhoun and what he built and accomplished there in the last 20 years.

UCLA is no longer a top tier program in any sense of the word. And with the ESPN culture, it's going to be hard for them to ever rise to that level with games starting at 10 and 11 O'clock in the east.

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That's not right though. UCLA will be good again. And someone will coach them when they're good. Calhoun is gone and I'm not saying that they will never be good again. Maybe they'll be good this season. But it's not a program like UCLA that has lasted across coaches and eras. I'm not saying Illinois is that either. But it has more history than UConn or Florida and that matters. I guess I'm looking at a longer view of the programs. Butler was one of the best programs in basketball for a few years. But they're not Indiana.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

That shirt is so big, he could have worn a Hefty bag.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

The absence of Purdue is glorious but incorrect. They're on Chambana's level as a 2nd tier program.

Also, where does this bashing of U of I as an educational institution come from?

Tall Midget had a bad experience with a farm animal at Dixon Springs.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

The sheep was named Springs?

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Animus

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You know me like that.

You have to be careful when using the word historically.

I mean if you want to go "historically" you could say the Cubs are one of the more successful teams in baseball since they went to 10 world series from 1906 to 1945.

Army football is also "historically" better than Wisconsin but haven't been near them competitively in at least 20 years.

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You know me like that.

Well, the Cubs are certainly an historic franchise. But there is the small fact that they've been the worst team in the game over the 70 year period post-WWII. It's not like the Illini have been futile over the last twenty seasons. They've had plenty of good teams during that span.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don