They remain the No. 1 team in the nation and a virtual lock for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament that begins next week.
The latter bears the most significance for Illinois coach Bruce Weber, and he need not worry about it.
Illinois players lost their first game Sunday, 65-64 against Ohio State, along with some of their sky-high self-assurance, but they already had proved their worthiness to the selection committee, Weber said Monday on the Big Ten teleconference.
“We’ve won 29 games,” he said. “No one else has done that. In the last game we led for 39 minutes 54 seconds. So if we lose the No. 1 seed over six seconds, something’s wrong.
“You watch around the country [Sunday]. Everyone’s losing. It’s hard to do what we did. I don’t think people understand what it takes to go on the road and win like we have.”
Even a loss in this week’s Big Ten Tournament at the United Center probably would not harm the Illini, Weber said. The Big Ten champs were voted No. 1 in the Associated Press poll for the 14th straight week Monday but weren’t a unanimous pick for the first time in five weeks.
The Illini received 48 first-place votes to 22 for No. 2 North Carolina (26-3). Wake Forest is ranked third, followed by Kentucky and Duke.
HE SAID IT
“The radio talk shows in Chicago this morning make me sick. They’re upset Illinois didn’t go [unbeaten]. That’s ridiculous. Twenty-nine and one is unbelievable.”
–Gene Keady, Purdue coach
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A viewer’s guide
Championship Week games demand your full attention. So clip this, tape it to your TV and preorder your pizza.
Monday’s championships
Colonial Athletic Association: Old Dominion 73, Virginia Commonwealth 66, OT
Missouri Valley: Creighton 75,
Southwest Missouri State 57
Metro Atlantic Athletic: Niagara 81, Rider 59
West Coast: Gonzaga vs. Saint Mary’s, late
Tuesday’s championships
Horizon League: Detroit at
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 8 p.m., ESPN
Mid-Continent: 6 p.m., ESPN2
Sun Belt: 8 p.m., ESPN2
Wednesday’s championships
Northeast: Wagner vs. Fairleigh Dickinson,
6 p.m., ESPN2
Big Sky: 8 p.m., ESPN2
Friday’s championships
Patriot League: Bucknell at Holy Cross,
3:30 p.m., ESPN
Saturday’s championships
America East: Northeastern at Vermont,
10:30 a.m., ESPN
Big West: 11 p.m., ESPN
Conference USA: 10:30 a.m., WBBM-Ch. 2
Mid-Eastern Athletic: 11 a.m., ESPN2
Pacific-10: 5 p.m., WBBM-Ch. 2
Atlantic 10: 5 p.m., ESPN
Mid-American: 6 p.m., ESPN2
Big East: 7 p.m., ESPN
Western Athletic: 8 p.m., ESPN2
Mountain West: 9 p.m., ESPN
Sunday’s championships
Southwestern Athletic: 11 a.m., ESPN2
Southland: Noon, ESPN2
SEC: Noon, WBBM-Ch. 2
ACC: Noon, ESPN
Big 12: 1 p.m., ESPN
Big Ten: 2:30 p.m., WBBM-Ch. 2
Already in
Ohio Valley: Eastern Kentucky
Southern: Tennessee-Chattanooga
Atlantic Sun: Central Florida
Big South: Winthrop
Ivy League: Pennsylvania
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Edited by Phillip Thompson (plthompson@tribune.com) and Chris Courtney (cdcourtney@tribune.com)
