Watching and following Illini recruiting, Illini football, and now Illinois basketball too, is to watch Paul Giamatti’s character in “Sideways.”

You just see them take hit, after hit, after hit, after hit, and you think: “when is life going to deal them a better hand finally?

Since Mike Thomas took over as Athletic Director, things have taken a serious turn for the worse. Here’s what the recruiting services are saying about the latest Illini recruiting class.

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A lot of Illinois basketball fans are not going to like what I’m about to write here. I fully expect some Illinois basketball fans to unfollow me on Twitter for this. Well, join the club. Illini fans unfollow me more than fans of any other fanbase. I’m not trying to tell Illinois basketball Coach John Groce what to do. He’s forgotten more about college basketball than I’ll ever learn in two lifetimes. Still it is my job to analyze, extrapolate and opine. Therefore, I think it’s time Groce sit some of the veterans and throw the rookies out there.

What does he have to lose? At this point in the season, nothing.

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During the pregame radio show, Illini basketball Coach John Groce said there are two types of college basketball teams playing  during this period of the season. Those that have checked out mentally and can’t wait for the season to end. The second group: teams composed of kids that want to keep playing as long as possible. Obviously, he then said, this Illini basketball team is in the second category.

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Illinois Coach John Groce was asked a question about the emotions he displayed during the 81-74 Illini loss to the #12 Iowa Hawkeyes. It was Iowa’s first win at Illinois since 1999. The reporter queried as to why John Groce was conveying more emotion than he usually does.

Groce said he was indeed angry, and not just because his team blew a five point lead down the stretch, and missed out on an opportunity for a signature win.

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The Illinois Fighting Illini tournament chances aren’t dead yet. But they are in critical condition and mandating life support. Everything can change in a New York minute. On Monday the Illini were sitting pretty with an RPI of 10 and all the preseason concerns about how bad the Illini might or might not be were put to rest. The Braggin Rights rivalry win put those fears to bed. After the first two conference games, the Illini looked like a 10-8 or 9-9 at worst in league play kind of team.

Well, both Mizzou and Oregon dropped out of the polls along with the Illini this week. That severely damages the Illini tournament resume:

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Rayvonte Rice is the leading scorer in the Big Ten. However, he didn’t score much last night in what was by far the worst performance of the season for both him and his Illinois Fighting Illini. Up until the final few minutes, you barely even knew Rice was playing last night at Northwestern. He finished with 8 points, a season low, and well below his 18.8 average. We found out that he has an adductor strain. So is Rayvonte Rice going to play versus Purdue tonight?

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Nothing like bringing up the worst enemies of Illini Nation on a Monday morning when you’re back at work. Just hours after Illini basketball suffered their worst loss of the 2010s. No one from Northwestern made our list. Not even under dishonorable mention. However, NU is still a thorn in the Illini side. In both sports now, it’s a rivalry. The Wildcats have beaten the Illini in five of the last eight meetings.

Anyways, let’s move on to the ten biggest villains in the eyes of Illini fans; in no particular order. Here they are, and I’ll let you determine your own order.

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