At this point, I don’t think anyone really believes all the lip service that the NCAA Tournament broadcast partners gives to metrics, numbers and stats when it comes to how the bracket is constructed. Sure, things like Quad 1 wins, records versus the top teams and the NET standings do matter, but you know what trumps all that? Ratings. And you know how you get additional boosts in ratings? Narratives.
Yes, narratives are commonplace when the committee constructs the bracket, and the 2021-22 Illini basketball team has a lot of them present in their region of the bracket. What defines “narratives”? Well, think of a couple years ago, when Pitino the Elder and Pitino the Younger were matched in the same regional, or when they put Coach K. against one of his proteges. Illini basketball are the No. 4 seed in the South region and will open their NCAA Tournament run against No. 13 seed Chattanooga (27-7) in the first round on Friday in Pittsburgh. If you’re betting, like you would at goldenslot, then you could get the Illini -8 as the point spread. Tip-off is 5:50 p.m. CT and will be televised on TNT.
Absolutely. Any #Illini who remembers 1997 and the Mighty Mocs.
I feel the great #narratives disturbance in the force. https://t.co/lPOtYgoiy0 pic.twitter.com/OIaw4y5fCO— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) March 14, 2022
Return of the Mocs
It happened a quarter-century ago (Now I’m feeling SUPER OLD). Lon Kruger had what was probably the second best team in the Big Ten that year behind Minnesota’s once in a generation Final Four squad (who later saw everything vacated by the NCAA). Illini basketball beat #11 seed USC, as a #6 seed, very handily in the first round. (Distinctively remember the view from Kam’s, the freshman bar, during this one). Then came the infamous story of what supposedly motivated #14 seed Tennessee-Chattanooga to knock the Illini off in the second round.
The story goes that thin locker room walls and close dressing room proximity in the arena enabled the Mocs to hear the Illini basketball team getting very cocky and celebrate before the game had even begun. All Illinois had to do was beat two double digit seeds and they would have reached the Elite 8. The stars lined up and Illinois had a broken bracket, meaning everything had fallen into place for Illinois to make a deep run.
UT-Chattanooga players allegedly heard Illini players humming the March Madness television broadcast theme song, and exclaiming “we’re going to the Final Four.”
And they took that personally. Rightfully so, as they had just knocked off #3 seed Georgia in the first game. As you saw in the Illini basketball NCAA Tournament history column, second round exits are very common in Illini basketball history. Still this stood out as one of the more painful, and it is reminiscent of what happened with Loyola just last year- the Illini believed their own hype, took a mid-major too lightly and lost 75-63.
At the time, no one on the Illini basketball side affirmed the story of what Chattanooga said they heard in the locker room. But like Tommy DeVito (not the Illini QB1, but the member of the Four Seasons) said at the end of Jersey Boys: ‘eh, yo, godo, you know everyone remembers things how they want to. capeche!”
Mr. Telephone Man
Kelvin Sampson shouldn’t even be allowed to coach right now, given all the transgressions of his past. He’s right up there, or should I say down there, with Bruce Pearl as the top all-time villains in Illini basketball lore. (Sure enough, Illinois got bracketed with Pearl in ’05 and beat them, so again, bracket construction = narratives). Sampson led Houston to a deep run in the NCAA Tournament last year, but he still stands out as a slimy bastard in a field that is overflowing with slimy bastards (As does Pearl).
Sampson had no issues tapping up Illini basketball commit Eric Gordon, and when EG defected from Illinois to the Indiana Hoosiers, things got really ugly. Poaching recruits and players flipping happens all the time, but this situation got nasty. What really stands out here though- the Eric Gordon/Kelvin Sampson saga ruined with programs, for a long time. Gordon was one-and-done to the NBA, just as everyone expected it would be. Illini basketball had holes in their backcourt for a couple years, and issues with recruiting top talent for several years to come.
Indiana soon found themselves on probation, in 2008, as Sampson totally wrecked the program. Among his infractions were a comical level of prohibited phone calls made and forbidden text messages sent. Go look it up, it’s insane. He was like that swing in “Swingers” when Mikey calls that number he just got at the bar and leaves about 6 or 7 voicemails in a row.
Both Indiana and Illini basketball haven’t been back to the Final Four since, and it was painfully obvious then that Gordon wasn’t worth it. And despite Sampson being a massive rule-breaker, punished by the NCAA, his career persists (just like Pearl). If chalk holds, it’s Illini basketball vs Kelvin Sampson in round two. Also, while there isn’t any bad blood or bitterness between Illini basketball and Arizona, it is a great intersectional rivalry, And we’ve detailed that over at this link.
So looking ahead, to how Illinois might do against the Mocs on Friday, how does the Big Ten tournament’s unexpected flameout prep this team? What about last year? When they won the Big Ten Tournament, but monumentally choked in the big dance against Loyola- what does this mean? Illini coach Brad Underwood was asked about how the early exit in 2002 gave his team more time off, versus 2021 when they had fixture congestion.
“We were an exhausted basketball team last year,” Underwood said.
“And more mentally than anything, and I think it’s great to push the “refresh” button. We came here to win it, we didn’t, but it’s not the end of the world. I don’t think Baylor won their conference tournament last year. I think UCLA got beat in theirs. I think they still found a way to make it to the Final Four.
“Yeah, it will be refreshing to get a couple days away. And, no, we’re not playing another Big Ten team. I’m tired of this league right now. I’m tired of these guys.”
I guess we’ll see if that’s just press conference boilerplate, or the real deal.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.