For both Illini basketball coach Brad Underwood, and the program that he leads, the goal is simple. They need to FINALLY reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament!
Underwood has never reached the Sweet Sixteen, anywhere that he’s been, and he owns a career March Madness record of 4-6. Technically, he’s 3-4 as one of the two big upsets he sprung while at Stephen F. Austin has been vacated from the official record.
#9 Seed Illinois Fighting Illini vs #8 Seed Arkansas Razorbacks FYIs
Tip-off is Thursday March 16, at 3:30 CST, televised on TBS. The spread has Arkansas favored -2.5, but I’d rather play aviator game review. That seems a preferable wagering option over betting on March Madness, especially when the ESPN Matchup Predictor looks like this: 57.4% Arkansas, 42.6% Illinois.
For some Big Ten Tournament and March Madness Talk, check out my segments on ESPN Radio Iowa, KGYM and Boiler Upload Podcast.
As for the Illini program itself, they have been “two and we’re through” in their past four tournament appearances. Since they last won a round of 32 game, way back in 2006, they have made the tournament six times, compiling a 4-6 March Madness record over that span.
These things happen, cuz the March is called “Madness” for a reason, but the Orange & Blue round of 16 drought persists despite entering the tournament as a #1 seed once (an exclusive with Loyola coach Drew Valentine, on how he pulled that off, at this link), a #4 seed twice and a #5 seed once. They even accomplished a very rare double along the way.
You know the famous #12 upsets a #5 seed narrative? Illinois was on the wrong end of that, as both a #12 and as a #5 in back to back seasons. So even when crazy stuff happens, it never goes the way of Illini basketball.
Leading scorer and probably overall best all around player Terrence Shannon Jr. maintains his optimism.
“The lights will be brighter, and if we lock in and play defense the way I know we can, we’ll be fine,” he said after the Illini were bounced from the Big Ten Tournament in Thursday night.
For both Brad Underwood as an individual and the Illini as a program, the sweet 16 hurdle is one that, if not cleared, means you are still just okay/decent/alright/solid, but you’re definitely not special/great/elite.
Credit Brad Underwood for winning as a #14 over a #3 (Bob Huggins’ West Virginia team) and as a #12 over a #5 (VCU) while at SFA. However, he’s still never achieved “a run.”
Illinois has gone on deep runs, they have other monkeys on their back. Yes, they have five Final Four appearances, nine Elite Eight appearances, and 18 Big Ten regular season championships.
However, they have never won a national title nor have they ever sprung a real tournament upset. They only have two tourney “upsets” in their entire history, and those were both one seed difference “pick’em” games:
2004, as a #5 over a #4, and then 2011, as a #9 over a #8.
Again, you’re not one of the big boys unless you can go on deep runs, even when you’re the underdog, and, at some point at least once, be the final team standing in the end.
So how do they finally make that leap? Brad Underwood responded with the following, when asked about trying to put it all together in the big dance:
“It’s finding a little bit of consistency. I think it’s finding a little bit of positive momentum. It’s creating an energy. The NCAA Tournament becomes a grind. You’ve got to have guys who can make baskets. We do have that.”
Like Shannon, Underwood admitted that playing hard, tough defense consistently is the main issue. Which then led to a reporter asking if this team has enough offense to counteract their defensive woes.
I don’t know, we were 25 down at half to Purdue in their building and found enough offense to do okay,” he responded.
“We’ve beaten UCLA. We’ve beaten Texas. We’ve beaten a lot of good teams in this league. I think there’s plenty there. I think it’s really hard to night in and night out, we’ve built our program on how do you win when the ball doesn’t go in?
“That’s where we’ve struggled the most is — there’s no secret we’re last in the league in three-point shooting.”
No lies detected there. This team is just very poor at shooting the three ball, and unfortunately, they just can’t stop shooting them in excess. All season long, this issue has been there. Ask any Illini fan.
On one hand, you’ve got to give Brad Underwood credit for being an elite conference season coach, as Illinois leads the Big Ten in total league wins since 2019-20.
On the other hand, he’s massively flopped lately in March single elimination games of all stripes. He was dominant in the conference tourney format at SFA, as he led his team to a Southland Conference Tournament title all three years on the job. But he’s been boom-or-bust in the conference tourney at Illinois.
Despite winning the Big Ten Tournament in 2021, his overall record in the competition is just 4-4.
The low point, obviously, was crashing out in their first game, while the #1 seed, last year. He was also one-and-done in the only Big 12 tournament he partook in at Oklahoma State.
The Arkansas game could go either way. Don’t be surprised if the Illini win, and win convincingly. But in the second round, Bill Self and Kansas yet again? The tournament committee sure loves their narratives, don’t they!.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.