Oil and water … Black and white … Night and day … Heaven and Hell … Fox News and an unbiased report … a pre-bar Pancheros “El Gordo” and a post-bar Pancheros “El Gordo” … Michigan and Illinois.
Polar opposites come in many different forms. And when the top-ranked Fighting Illini come to town tomorrow for their only scheduled showdown with the Wolverines this season, Crisler Arena will host a contrast of the most glaring degree.
Illinois enters the game as college basketball’s darling. The Illini boast a perfect record, having rolled off 23 straight wins (including nine in Big Ten play). They lead the conference in everything but practicality of uniform color: points per game, scoring margin, field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage, 3-point field goals made, assists, turnover margin, assists/turnover ratio and attendance. Arguably the best group in America, their backcourt was the subject of a five-page feature in last week’s Sports Illustrated. And their coach, Bruce Weber, has emerged as a front-runner to be this season’s conference and national coach of the year.
Michigan enters the game as — at least in recent weeks — college basketball’s laughing stock. The Wolverines have lost six straight games (including five by double digits). They lead the Big Ten in turnovers. Arguably the thinnest group in the Big Ten, their regular backcourt rotation features as many walk-ons as scholarship players (three) and is the subject of constant ridicule around Ann Arbor. And their coach, Tommy Amaker, has emerged as a front-runner to be next season’s conference and national coach on the hottest seat.
It wasn’t always this way, though.
In fact, these teams were quite comparable the last time that Illinois made the trip to Ann Arbor, just two years ago. Entering that March 1, 2003 game, the teams shared identical Big Ten marks of 9-4 (tops in the conference with Wisconsin at the time). Although each side boasted a dynamic senior — Brian Cook for Illinois and LaVell Blanchard for Michigan — the promising, mature-beyond-their-years underclassmen truly defined both teams. Illinois started four underclassmen — sophomore Roger Powell and freshmen Dee Brown, Deron Williams and James Augustine — and brought sophomores Luther Head and Nick Smith off the bench. The Wolverines started the freshmen trio of Daniel Horton, Lester Abram and Graham Brown and played freshmen Sharrod Harrell and Chris Hunter.
The tightly played game thrilled all 13,507 in attendance from start to finish, but Dee Brown — who was edged out by Horton for the media and coaches Big Ten Freshman of the Year awards — hit a short jumper that ignited a 7-0 Illinois run in the game’s final minute. This 11th-hour rally gave the Illini an 82-79 win and snapped Michigan’s 12-game home winning streak. But in hindsight, the game seems to carry a much bigger significance, as it sent the teams in completely opposite directions.
Michigan went on to finish third in the conference and suffered a season-ending (the Wolverines were banned from NCAA tournament play) first-round loss to sixth-seeded Indiana at the Big Ten Tournament. Last season, Michigan struggled throughout conference play. While the Wolverines did get it together and won the NIT, this secondary tournament’s only real significance lies in the belief that it primes the winner for a subsequent breakthrough season — obviously a myth in the eyes of Michigan faithful as the 2004-05 campaign winds down.
After its win in Ann Arbor, Illinois finished second in the conference behind Wisconsin but won the Big Ten Tournament and gutted out a win in the NCAA tourney. Last season, Illinois took the Big Ten’s regular-season title and made it to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to Duke — an eventual Final Four squad. And this season, the Illini have obviously taken a Yao Ming-sized step forward.
So while Orange Krush members eagerly anticipate packing their bags for St. Louis in late March, Maize Ragers consider possible coaches to supplant Tommy (I’ve heard people mention everyone from Rudy Tomjanovich to Bobby Knight) and mull over which group of five Michigan football players could beat the Wolverines’ current starting lineup.
I’m not foaming at the mouth, calling for a Braylon Edwards-Gabe Watson pick-and-roll. And I’m wasting my time trying to analyze why Michigan has completely diverged from Illinois, because my editor only gives me so much space.
I just long for the days when Illinois needed seven unanswered points in the game’s waning seconds to steal a win from a competitive Michigan team — days that existed just two years ago.
Gennaro Filice would give his left baby toe for Bruce Weber to don his bright orange suit coat tomorrow. He can be reached at gfilice@umich.edu.