I just can't shake this feeling that we are going to have a dramatic win against Iowa and it is going to be _the_ defining moment of the season. Something that we'll be talking about for the next 20 years like the Frank Williams layup at Minnesota for a share of the championship, the Luther Head putback at Purdue in 2004 for the outright Big Ten Championship, or the comeback over Arizona for the Final Four. It just feels like it has all been building to this. Here's why I can't shake the feeling:
*Brad Underwood has beaten every Big Ten team except...Iowa.
*Iowa has ended our last two seasons, one that ended our year in February and one that gave us our 21st loss of the season. Brad Underwood has a long memory for these things so you know he's going to be gunning for this victory like you've never seen. The more casual he tries to play it in the pre-game, the more you will know this is true.
*There is no greater symbol of our recent futility than Luka Garza eating us alive the last two years. The thing that brought us back from our lowest low point was the Kofi Cockburn commitment on January 6th. If Kofi has one mission for us it is to neutralize Garza.
*If there is one guy who brought Illinois basketball back from the abyss, it's Ayo Dosunmu. His story is playing out like a movie script and now we're in the third act. It's his final game at State Farm Center (no NIT home games or any of that BS -- he's going pro and we all know it), but it's not official so he can't celebrate it like a senior would. He's going to celebrate it by doing what he does best -- closing out a Big Ten opponent.
*The game needs to mean something. This is where I start to feel a little fuzzy, because in my heart I don't think this team is Big Ten Championship-worthy. Yet we stand 1 game out with 2 games to go. We're the very last game on the Big Ten regular season schedule. It could very well come down to a single shot for the Big Ten Championship. Could it be that Ayo makes the shot (or maybe he goes the ultimate unselfish route and makes the pass) that wins us a championship at the buzzer? It just feels like it has to be that way.
*Brad Underwood has beaten every Big Ten team except...Iowa.
*Iowa has ended our last two seasons, one that ended our year in February and one that gave us our 21st loss of the season. Brad Underwood has a long memory for these things so you know he's going to be gunning for this victory like you've never seen. The more casual he tries to play it in the pre-game, the more you will know this is true.
*There is no greater symbol of our recent futility than Luka Garza eating us alive the last two years. The thing that brought us back from our lowest low point was the Kofi Cockburn commitment on January 6th. If Kofi has one mission for us it is to neutralize Garza.
*If there is one guy who brought Illinois basketball back from the abyss, it's Ayo Dosunmu. His story is playing out like a movie script and now we're in the third act. It's his final game at State Farm Center (no NIT home games or any of that BS -- he's going pro and we all know it), but it's not official so he can't celebrate it like a senior would. He's going to celebrate it by doing what he does best -- closing out a Big Ten opponent.
*The game needs to mean something. This is where I start to feel a little fuzzy, because in my heart I don't think this team is Big Ten Championship-worthy. Yet we stand 1 game out with 2 games to go. We're the very last game on the Big Ten regular season schedule. It could very well come down to a single shot for the Big Ten Championship. Could it be that Ayo makes the shot (or maybe he goes the ultimate unselfish route and makes the pass) that wins us a championship at the buzzer? It just feels like it has to be that way.
