Illini head west
Illinois could face SIU in second round
Bruce Weber was hardly positive Sunday morning about Illinois' chances of making the NCAA Tournament. A thumping by Wisconsin in Saturday's Big Ten Tournament semifinal put his gloom detector on high.
""I went in thinking we wouldn't get in, to be honest,"" the Illinois coach said.
Then the pairings show began, and Purdue went up on the board. Soon after, Villanova was there. Two teams similar in record to the 23-11 Fighting Illini.
""That made us feel better,"" forward Brian Randle said.
Then the Illini were revealed as a No. 12 seed and ticketed for Columbus, Ohio, where they'll play fifth-seeded Virginia Tech at Nationwide Arena on Friday.
In Champaign, everybody felt a lot better.
""I think we're very deserving,"" Weber said. ""Now we have to play with the heart and determination that we did over the last three weeks.""
Illinois was among the last, perhaps the last, of six Big Ten teams to make the NCAA Tournament. All the others, starting with Ohio State, the No. 1 seed in the South Region, have more favorable seeds than Illinois' No. 12. Of teams from the six traditional power conferences, only Arkansas of the Southeastern Conference, also a No. 12 seed, was ranked so low.
""Other than trying to live up to the expectation of being a high seed, everything's the same,"" Weber said, looking back on the last two years. ""At SIU, we were just happy to get in.""
Randle went a step further.
""We're extremely happy, especially the way the season has gone,"" Randle said. ""Walking into the gym, everybody was nervous.""
The NCAA's arrangement of the brackets will bring forth an Illinois-Southern Illinois game in the second round if both the Illini and fourth-seeded Salukis advance. Southern Illinois, which Weber coached with distinction before moving from Carbondale to Champaign, plays Holy Cross in its first-round game.
If anything, Illinois catches a break in terms of travel. Indiana, which fell to the Illini in overtime in Friday's quarterfinal, received a No. 7 seed but travels to Sacramento, Calif., for its first-round game Thursday. The Illini can rest up, then hop to Columbus for a game a day later.
""For this year, it's a pretty good arrangement,"" Weber said. ""Now, with the right bounce, if somebody gets hot at the right time, you never know. That's why it's so exciting this time of year.""
Virginia Tech (21-11) advanced to the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, where it lost to North Carolina State. The Hokies, coached by Seth Greenberg, beat Duke in overtime during the ACC regular season and scored a pair of wins over ACC tourney champion North Carolina, the top seed in the East Region. Earlier in the season, they dropped a 69-64 outcome to SIU.
It's Virginia Tech's first NCAA appearance in 11 years.
""Seth Greenberg is a great coach,"" Weber said. ""I've known him for a long time. They've lost three of the last four, but they had a chance to win the ACC, and that's a mouthful.""
Ohio State faces Central Connecticut State in its opener in Lexington, Ky. Since no No. 16 seed has ever beaten a No. 1 seed, the Buckeyes can look forward to either Brigham Young or Xavier in the second round. Xavier was Thad Matta's last coaching stop before Ohio State.
""It's a little bit ironic, I think, and Bruce (Weber) is in the same situation (with SIU) and so is Tom Crean (of Marquette) and Michigan State,"" Matta said. ""We were laughing about it.""
Wisconsin gets No. 15 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Friday's first round at the United Center. Or, as Badgers star Alando Tucker said, ""Corpus Crispy.""
Ninth-seeded Purdue faces Arizona in its first-round game at New Orleans, while seventh-seeded Indiana plays Gonzaga at Sacramento. Ninth-seeded Michigan State plays Marquette at Winston-Salem, N.C.