Illinois vs. Iowa
8 pm
TV: Big Ten Network
John Groce gave maybe his most open press conference yesterday, which I mean as faint praise. Sure, he doesn’t give alternative facts, but what he does says requires some reading between the lines. For instance:
What Groce is saying here is what everyone has been yelling at their television as Illinois got thrashed by Maryland, Purdue, and Michigan in succession: We stink right now. Kudos to coach for kind-of acknowledging this, but come on, get your team right.
With 11 games left, it’s still too soon to officially write Illinois off for the year, but I think most fans have done so already. Those fans really can’t be blamed, either. Illinois has played miserably of late, not even really providing entertainment. Of course, this is a team that beat NC State handily, the same NC State that just beat Duke at Cameron Indoor, so the potential is still there. The only thing Illinois has succeeded at recently, though, is wasting its potential.
As for Iowa, they’ve got one of the best players in the conference in Peter Jok, but the supporting cast hasn’t helped him out considerably. Overall, the Hawkeyes are a team Illinois could beat, and given what was expected of a team with 2 sixth-year players and 3 seniors they’re a team Illinois should beat. That hasn’t seemed to matter, though, so consider alternative programming this evening.
My prediction: John Groce still has a job after this evening.