Illinois Spread Favorites

[DisneyKing82]

Why do people on this board continue to take Illinois as a favorite? I saw a whole bunch of people taking them against Northwestern and again today against Gonzaga. I don't get it!! They stink!!!

[COACH DITKA]

Originally Posted by DisneyKing82

Why do people on this board continue to take Illinois as a favorite? I saw a whole bunch of people taking them against Northwestern and again today against Gonzaga. I don't get it!! They stink!!!

Are they a bad team? Far from it. Are the one of the most inconsistent teams in the nation? Absolutely. Tisdale a classic example - 31 and 11 vs NW and 4 pts and 0 reb in 11 min before fouling out today. He creates his mismatches against bigs who are a bunch of stiffs, of which the athletic Sacre is not.
The junior trio of Tisdale, Mike Davis, and Demitri McCamey could look like one of the best trios in the country one night and they can look lost the next night. Ever since guys like Dee, Deron, Luther, etc moved on, they have been maddeningly inconsistent. Defense has been their calling card but they have struggled in that area this year esp starting a pair of true freshmen in the backcourt (besides DMac). It also doesn't help that they have no depth in the backcourt coming off the bench besides Jordan (one of the few players who actually knows how to play D on the team). The Legion transfer experiment was a disaster and a half.
Keller is the only player of note they should lose heading into next year so with a top 10 recruiting class en route combined w/the core now, the sky is limit for them. However, because they are so inconsistent, I'd put the same odds on them to make a Final Four run as compared to bombing out and missing the tourney.