First it was Miami, now Illinois. As I am sure you already know the team which is taking a year off from the tournament just drove a dagger through Illinois’ perfect season. The Buckeyes came back from 12 down to defeat the #1 team in the country on a last second 3 by Matt Sylvester. Sylvester, who had a career high of 25, threw up one of the worst shots of his life on the possession before the 3, but represented well on the last shot of the regular season.
good job white boy..
Illinois was trying to become the first Big Ten team in almost 30 years to go unbeaten in the regular season, but that all ended on a sunny afternoon in Columbus, OH. Actually, the last team to reach the Dance without a loss was UNLV in 1991. You remember that team..Tark, Grandmama, Augmon, Greg Anthony, and Hunt. They were nasty. So anyways, since the Bucks are chillin at home for the Madness, I have handed my faith over to Illinois to bring home the tournament. Simply to hear Dicky V and others mention The Ohio State University all throughout the tournament as the only team to take em down.
Today was a great victory for a Bucks team which has gone through a lot of turmoil since our 1999 Final Four appearance. It seemed so easy for this team to fold up shop on the season, but just like another great man, they never gave up. Boy, I wish I was in college again, just for one more day. Just to rush that court at the end…what a feeling. There is nothing better than seeing the spirit of college sports. In Uncle Rico style, if it was only 1999 again and I was rushing the court every 4th game.
Never Graduate..
3 comments:
The best part of the Buckeye win was the confidence shown by Matta and Slyvester. In the timeout before drawing up the winning play, Matta said "F--k it, we're going for the win." Slyvester said he would hit the shot. These things bode well for the future of the Buckeye program (as does a Duncan James in 18 years).
As for the season, the Buckeyes wanted to be known as the "66th best team in the country;" i.e., the best team not to make the tourney. At 19-11, 8-8 in the Big Ten, a win over the undefeated #1 team, and a solid RPI, the Bucks would be primed to take on any team in the tourney. In fact, OSU is easily the best team in Ohio (even if you included Cinci-tucky). Congrats to the Bucks for putting in a great performance even without the promise of a post-season. And congrats to Thad Matta for getting so much out of this team, re-establishing OSU hoops, and coming up with a big win on national tv.
O-H-I-O!
sweet, sweet victory. As I was watching at the beginning of the game, I noticed some of the students garnished themselves with facepaint. I thought to myself -- "man, this is not the game to draw attention to yourself" - and, for those of you that haven't tried it -- takes a couple days to fully get that stuff off. 2 hours later, I was going through my wife's makeup looking for scarlet and gray.
ESPN said after the game that the win would have solidified them a spot in the dance. Additionally, they said that suspending post-season play after the school year starts (therefore not allowing seniors to transfer) was a selfish, selfish decision by the administration. WOW -- i might actually start respecting them again
If you are going to make reference to the '91 UNLV defeat, and compare the OSU victory over the Illini to it, then you must give the appriopriate props to the '91 DUKIES that knocked off those sluts in one of the greatest upsets in Final Four history ... shame on you goon ... shame on you!
Post a Comment