Refuted: 2007 Illinois --Best in Big Ten?

[lvbuckeye]

Okay, this guy needs to ease up on the hyperbole. I think Mike Hart and James Laurinaitis have a little something to say about who is the best player in the Big Ten.

As for Illinois, I think they have a lot of talented players of the calibar you would normally see at Ohio State or Michigan. On defense, they have Vontae Davis and J Leman, and Martez Wilson has made some big plays. On offense, obviously Mendenhall and Benn could play for just about anybody in the country. So they have athletes to line up with the Buckeyes. What they don't have is the beef. And that's where Ohio State will dominate the Illini.

do you forget last year so soon?

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

The North isn't looking that bad this year. Mizzou and Kansas are undefeated, and KState and Colorado have beaten the class of the B12 South.

Well, sure. There you go clouding the debate with your "facts" again.

 

[OH10]

do you forget last year so soon?

Different game. Different place. Vanilla Ohio State offense that ran every first and second down.

 

[methomps]

Well, sure. There you go clouding the debate with your "facts" again.

Don't hate

Well... lets take the "North" out of my "discussion" idea then.

Well, the B12 is no Pac10, but who is?

 

[martinss01]

its easy to make these kinds of statements. if he is wrong... eh, noone will ever remember it. but if he is right.... oh dear god will we never hear the end of it. the fact is illi is deserving of praise. they have put together a great season to this point. might even be one of our toughest games this season. declaring them the best in the conference is certainly debatable. though i would also consider such a statement a tad uneducated as well.

but then, we'll all know for sure soon enough *shrug*.

 

[osugrad21]

Hype....and deserved hype based on their performance Saturday. Only now are all of the writers saying Wisky was overrated...yet they fail to mention they all filed their votes every week like a Pavlov dog.

Let them have the hype and the articles while we patiently wait to settle it on the field.

 

[OCBucksFan]

Well, the Pac10 is no SEC, but who is?

Fixed that for ya :)

 

[Brutus1]

I'm not so sure that their speed will be able to make it to the corner on the Buckeye defense. Those plays that made it around the corner against Wisky for 317 yards rushing will be MUCH, MUCH harder in this game. Force Juice to pass the ball and see what happens.

If the offense can hold onto the ball, no way do the Illini stay within 2 tds.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Why not? Underestimate them at your peril. Frankly, they're looking excellent this year, and it's not a stretch to call them the best in the conference. That one close loss to Missouri is looking better and better all the time, with Mizzou looking like the odds-on favorite in the B12 North.

You don't have to take this article as disrespecting OSU.

So a close loss to Mizzou on a neutral field is more impressive than winning at Washington and at Purdue? Really?

I knew UI would start getting all the media love, anything different and somewhat controversial sells. It will help keep our guys motivated, we can handle spread teams and last time I checked they were coming to Columbus.

I would be more worried if I was a fan of a team that couldn't stop anyone who runs a spread option attack and had to play Illinois at their place at night in a couple of weeks.

 

[HailToMichigan]

So a close loss to Mizzou on a neutral field is more impressive than winning at Washington and at Purdue? Really?

That's exactly what I said

Honestly, how on earth do you make that leap? And how do you compare Illinois' worst game to OSU's best? Illinois has wins too, ya know. Good ones. All other things being equal, if I were to compare Illinois' worst game to OSU's worst (not their signature wins) I like a closs loss to Mizzou on a neutral field better than an uninspiring win over Akron at home.

And don't bother bringing in what Michigan's done or not done. Moot point, as I'm not sitting here feeling insulted that Illinois is getting consideration for tops in the B10 and Michigan's not.

 

[bluechillj]

For what its worth, the Sagarin ratings have Ohio State at #3 and Illinois at #39 using margin of victory (the BCS doesn't use margin, but it ends up being more accurate). Ohio State's schedule is indeed weaker....but only at #38 in the country compared to #31 for Illinois.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

if I were to compare Illinois' worst game to OSU's worst (not their signature wins) I like a closs loss to Mizzou on a neutral field better than an uninspiring win over Akron at home.

I'd say an uninspired 21-0 victory of Western Illinois may be a better candidate for their worst game than a game in which they lost by six points to the #11 team in the nation. In fact, I'd say that was one of their better performances.

For whatever that's worth. :p

 

[Jaxbuck]

That's exactly what I said

Honestly, how on earth do you make that leap?

How in the hell else can you make the leap that a 1 loss team is better than an undefeated one when neither team has played anyone all that good yet? You did after all say that the case could be made for UI being the best team in the B10.

And don't bother bringing in what Michigan's done or not done. Moot point, as I'm not sitting here feeling insulted that Illinois is getting consideration for tops in the B10 and Michigan's not.

As well you shouldn't be. Thay are better than tsun.


Like I said this is just pure media spin at its most basic, we'll see how much noise is being made for the Zookers after 11/10.

 

[Dryden]

IMO, sure Illinois is better this year than in many previous. However, to make this leap in judgment is fallacious at best. Wisconsin has been overrated since the second week of the season. They were a team waiting for someone to step up and finish them off.

Bingo. Wisconsin struggled with UNLV, The Citadel, Iowa, and Michigan St. All Illinois proved is that they have more depth than any of those teams, and that Wisconsin was grossly overrated at #5.

Illinois has given up 2TDs or more to every single D1A opponent they've played; 20+ to such offensive juggernauts as Syracuse and Penn State. They're a good team and are having a storybook season, but that defense isn't going to win them a Big Ten title.

That doesn't mean they can't beat Ohio State on any given Saturday, but title talk for the Illini is a year premature, IMHO.

 

[Bucklion]

Blah blah blah, blah, blah...Illinois is now the greatest team in the Big Ten in the past 30 years, they're the new Northwestern 1995, this is just like 2001, they've almost beaten a quality opponent, which is awesome and makes Notre Dame BCS eligible every year, we suck because our Big Ten schedule was front-loaded with the doormats, and since we made Purdue look silly they're not as good, but alas since Illinois beat mammoth Wisconsin that makes them historically great and us mediocre, Benn is the next Gale Sayers and Archie Griffin, all rolled into one, Zook is the greatest recruiter ever since Pete Carroll, if we would have had to play Iowa in 2002 we would have lost and Trev Alberts would have masturbated, Juice Williams keeps cereal crispier in milk than Boeckman ever could, Mendenhall can cut through a tin can as easily as a tomato, Lauranitis couldn't have cracked the 5-deep at LB on any of Gary Moeller's Illinois teams that won 6 games in 3 years...

Come on, does anyone take these media wonks seriuously? Their entire purpose in life is to write dumb shit in an attempt to piss people off so they can feel good about themselves. Why care? Everyone is tired of hearing about OSU and Michigan every year, so every Barry Alvarez Rose Bowl berth or Northwestern revitalization or one-year-flash-in-the-pan like Illinois and Iowa have been or arrival of a "modern" coach like Joe Tiller is treated like the 2nd coming of Jesus (or Notre Dame beating Navy). Aren't we used to this by now?

And don't we play Illinois? So here's the thing, we kick the crap out of them, then everyone will shut up, if they win, well, they were better than us after all. Next.