
Fuck. Just fuck. The Illini have let me down again. Another season of “we’re talking cutting down the nets at the end of the season” to “can’t even get out of the first weekend” of the tournament.
I’ve been an Illini fan my entire life. Never went there, but obviously born and raised in Illinois. Never left. Since I can remember, I’ve loved college basketball and Illinois became my team. But damn, this stings. For the second year after “high expectations,” they have bowed out in the second round. Last year still pisses me off more losing to fucking Loyola. Fuck Loyola.
This year, they barely pulled it out against Chattanooga. Yesterday, they come back to tie the game despite it still feeling like they were down 20. Then, the wheels fell off. I guess it really is called “March Madness” for a reason.
It still sucks. I was feeling shitty in 2001 after the Elite Eight loss. Then in 2005 with the loss in the National Championship. I was completely deflated and depressed after that. It was nothing but regression after. The last two years under Brad Underwood, it was back to “relevance.” Although it’s been really frustrating. Last year was a gut-punch and yesterday, just pure exhaustion.
It’s very hard to win a National Championship in Division I basketball. Even the all-time great schools only have one or two titles in nearly 85 years or whatever. But damn. Can I just have one for my team?