After Saturday’s tough two-point loss to Indiana in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament, Illinois coach Bill Self had assessed his team’s chances of getting a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament as “faint.”
On Sunday, about five minutes into the NCAA selection show, Self felt like fainting.
Dayton? Did somebody say Dayton?
“I was real excited,” said Self when Illinois’ name came up as the top seed in the Midwest Regional. “But the guys were jumping up and down in front of me and I thought we were No. 1 in the South.”
Nope. By sending the Illini to Dayton Arena for a first-round game Friday, the NCAA gave them their ultimate seal of approval. Illinois will meet the winner of this year’s play-in Tuesday between the two lowest-seeded teams in the field–Southland Conference champ Northwestern State (18-12) of Natchitoches, La., and Big South champ Winthrop (18-12) of Rock Hill, S.C. Co-Big Ten champion Michigan State was awarded the No. 1 seed in the South.
So much for Self’s theory that the Spartans’ RPI and overall record would count more than Illinois’ 77-66 victory over MSU on Feb. 6 at the Assembly Hall. So much for the experts who said the Illini (24-7) had blown their chance for a No. 1 seed by falling to the Hoosiers. So much for the thinking that a team with seven defeats didn’t deserve a top seed.
“Trying to evaluate Illinois and Michigan State was brutally hard,” said Mike Tranghese, chairman of the NCAA’s selection committee. “Both played quality non-conference schedules, but at the end of the day Illinois’ non-conference schedule was just a little better.”
In other words, by playing and beating then-No. 6 Maryland, by playing and losing to then-No. 1 Arizona and then-No. 1 Duke, by playing and beating then-No. 7 Seton Hall and then-No. 7 Arizona again, the Illini earned points for guts.
“The bottom line is all those teams we played ended up getting hot late,” said Self, “and that probably helped us. I’m glad we put a lot of energy into winning those non-conference games. It was probably too tough a schedule on paper, but I’m glad we’ve got guys who were willing to work hard.”
The trick now is to make the reward pay off. Illinois will be playing with the pressure of its first No. 1 seed since its 1989 Final Four team but also with some advantages:
No top seed has lost a first-round game to a No. 16 seed.
Nine No. 1 seeds have won the NCAA championship.
Dayton is close enough to give at least some Illini fans a chance to see them. Dayton Arena was sold out a long time ago. Illinois’ allotment is only 350 tickets, but “I think there will be a number of Illinois fans who will be willing to pay more than face value to get into the games,” said Self.
As the top seed in the Midwest, the Illini will have the chance to scout Tuesday’s Northwestern State-Winthrop clash.
As a No. 1 seed, the Illini wouldn’t have to face Midwest No. 2 seed Arizona for the third time this season until the Elite Eight.
“Arizona is a great ballclub. They’ve got five guys who could play in the NBA,” said point guard Frank Williams.
If the Illini win their opener, they would face the Tennessee-Charlotte victor.Sunday, though, the Illini weren’t thinking that far ahead.
In 24 hours their emotions had run the gamut–from disappointment to shock to joy to the implications of being the No. 1 seed.
“It feels great,” said Lucas Johnson. “It obviously means the selection committee felt pretty highly of us. As the top seed we might be held more accountable. But that’s good. After the loss to Indiana we’ll be coming into the tourney a little hungry. I think it’s key to make a deep run. If we look good, the program looks good.”
Do the Illini have a realistic chance of making it to their first Final Four since 1989? Yes. Any team with Williams as its point guard has a chance.
But only if:
– Cory Bradford’s shooting touch doesn’t leave him for even one game the rest of the year.
– Big men Marcus Griffin, Robert Archibald and Brian Cook start going to the glass again with the same passion they showed in the Maryland and Duke games, when Illinois outrebounded the Terrapins 55-37 and the Blue Devils 42-27.
– They stop standing around on offense when Williams has the ball.
– Sergio McClain starts playing more like the McClain who got a triple-double against Michigan instead of the McClain who was 0-for-6 from the floor and missed two key free throws in the last 49 seconds against Indiana on Saturday.
– They get lucky with a couple of pairings.
“In my experience,” said Self, “[NCAA tournament success] is more about matchups than seeds. A 2-vs.-10 game may appear to be a blowout, but it’s not if the matchup is bad [for the higher-seeded team].”
