By Woodrow Carroll
With the collegiate basketball season heading into the home stretch, it might be a good time to take a look at some of the contenders for national honors with the state of Illinois in mind. And, we might point out a few pretenders as well as the legitimate contenders for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. The crown that presently rests uneasy on the shoulders of defending title holder: The University of Connecticut Huskies.
Topping the poll of late has been Auburn. A recent 94-85 road victory at Alabama upped the Auburn Tigers’ record to 23-2 overall and 11-1 in the SEC. A non-conference loss at Duke and conference setback at home to Florida are the only blemishes on the Auburn record.
At this point of the season, there are no undefeated teams left in the running. In fact, there only two teams left that have not suffered a setback in conference action.
In the Ivy League, you will find Yale sporting a 9-0 record in conference play. In overall action, the Yale Bulldogs from New Haven, Conn. are only 16-6 heading into this week.
The other undefeated conference team at this point happens to be Akron of the Mid-American Conference. The Zips are 12-0 in the MAC and 20-5 overall.
Early in the season, the University of Illinois looked to be the strongest of all the NCAA Men’s Basketball programs in the Land of Lincoln. Of late, however, the Fighting Illinois have slowed down, standing 17-9 overall and 9-7 in the Big Ten. Illinois needs to concentrate on qualifying for the postseason and shoring up the team’s resume in the process.
While Illinois has reached the Final Four of the men’s tournament on five occasions, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1989 and 2005, the 2005 edition remains as the only squad in that group to make it to the championship game. The 2004-2005 Fighting Illinois finished 37-2. The second defeat that season was a 75-70 loss to North Carolina in the Championship Game played in St. Louis.
If Northwestern is to qualify for any tournament it will take a strong finish to the regular season. The Wildcats are 13-13 overall. But, only 4-11 in the Big Ten.
Most who follow the NCAA men’s basketball finals can tell you that Chicago Loyola is the only Illinois school to win the men’s tournament. The Ramblers comeback victory in the 1963 title game is the stuff of legends. Well, while we are at it, we might point out that the Bradley Braves twice reached the titular affair only to come up short.
Loyola is having a respectable season! The Ramblers, 16-9 overall and, now in the Atlantic 10 Conference, 7-5. As we are all aware, conference affiliations are very fluid. The Ramblers are presently in a mix that includes the La Salle Explorers the school that bested Bradley in 1954
In 1950, Bradley faced CCNY (City College of New York) in the NCAA title game and came up short. The two teams, also, did battle for the NIT crown in 1950, with CCNY again prevailing.
Less dramatic for Bradley was the 1954 NCAA Title contest. La Salle was in control most of the way beating Bradley, 92-76. If you are looking for something quirky, we could point out that in the third-place game which was played in the NCAA Men’s Tournament through 1981, it was Penn State over Southern California 70-61 for third. Long before the two teams found their way into the Big Ten fold.
Record wise, the Bradley Braves are 21-6 overall and 12-4 in Missouri Valley play. In conference action, the Braves are locked in a tight battle for first with the Drake Bulldogs the two teams having split their two conference meetings. A big plus in Bradley’s favor is the Braves’ three-point shooting. Coming into this week’s action, the Braves lead the nation from three-point range shooting 40.7% from beyond the arc.