Rankings can be counter-productive. The University of Illinois men’s basketball team was anointed with a top six ranking at the beginning of the season. Following a defeat at the hands of possibly the best team in country, Baylor University, 82-69, the Illini fell to host Missouri Saturday in its annual ‘Braggin’ Rights game, 81-78, and fell to a 4-2 record, in spite of an 83-68 victory at a prestigious Duke program.
That dropped Illinois to No. 13 in both coaches’ and writers’ polls. Another way to look at is it made the Illini the highest rated team with two defeats.
The question is do the pre-season and early rankings work against talented teams? Should Illinois have defeated Missouri? Illinois once was dominate in the series against Missouri. That pendulum has changed.
Illinois rebounded Tuesday in a big way in the Big Ten Conference opener at home against Minnesota with a 92-65 victory. The 7-0 sophomore center, Kofi Cockburn, played 25 minutes and produced 33 points and 13 rebounds.
Illinois fans, in a different season, could have been at a basketball game at Penn State Friday and the next day could have seen the football team play at Rutgers in New Jersey. Obviously, this year is one of a kind, hopefully. How it ends for many teams still is questionable. The last word we had on March Madness is that the tournaments will be limited and could be confined to Indianapolis because of the bubble effect and multiple preferred venues.
• First, though, will be college bowl games. What the final games end up is questionable.
Bowls which have been canceled include Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, Holiday Bowl in San Diego, Calif., Hawaii Bowl, Redbox Bowl, and Bahama Bowl, four of which include Big Ten schools.
The upcoming weekend may be the end of the trail for most Big Ten teams. The answer is to make the most of the weekend games.
• The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Monday decided to move the end dates for Spring baseball and softball season up one week earlier which will affect both practices and games. It is difficult times for both teams and administrators. COVID-19 makes it difficult to predict available dates to both practice and play games. Predicting when the COVID-19 lets up remains difficult even with vaccine distribution just starting. When the vaccine becomes widely available remains conjecture. Good health remains paramount. A sense of caution and resolution remain important advice for everyone, including high school competitors.
• There is little consistency in major league sports. Five years ago the Chicago Cubs were on their way up, which ended with a 2016 World Series championship. On the other hand, the Chicago White Sox were on he way down five years ago. Now, the prospects have been transposed. White Sox fans eagerly await the start of the season. The Sox have youthful hitters, fielders, and quality pitching.
• Change has reached Minor League Baseball. The minor league teams until now was affiliated with one Major League Baseball team.
The positive spin from the minor league teams is that players will have the ability to move with any of the Major League Baseball teams and will not be restricted to the affiliated Major League Baseball team. The move was stimulated by Major League Baseball and not the minor league teams.
The Kane County Cougars, in a sense, will be an independent team, similar to what teams in Joliet and Schaumburg always have been.
The Cougars started in 1991 and in 2015 became the first Class A team in history to draw 11 Million fans even with starting many years later than other minor league teams.
The way it works, so often, immediately prior to the years when the Cougars started the organization, naysayers were adamant that an organization 40 miles from Chicago would have no opportunity to succeed, that fans would prefer Cubs and Sox to minor league play. However, the Cougars were fun, a family draw, and less expensive.