Illinois Basketball Gets Strangled & Other Big Ten Horror Stories: Blocking Chargecast March Madness Update

I’m sure you’ve been waiting with bated breath to get a more detailed recap of the greatest Illinois Fighting Illini basketball season since before I even thought about attending Illinois being decisively ended in the round of 32.

More detailed than my rapid reaction, anyway:

It’s true though. Probably worth an article. This is the true form of Illinois Basketball. It’s not falling off the wrong side of the bubble by losing to Eddie Jordan, nor is it Luther Head’s national championship tying three getting oh so close. No, it’s THIS. MNW probably wants me to save it for another article that I won’t get around to writing.

Anyway, we have a lot to talk about.

• In fact, the only Big Ten fans that are in shambles are fans of the teams that lost. Well, most of them anyway. Wisconsin and Maryland ran into buzzsaws they had no hope against in the second round, ALTHOUGH THEY WEREN’T THE ONLY TEAM TO SUFFER THAT FATE but we’ll get to that. MNWildcat, whose team is not in the tournament, is delighted.
• Let’s give Michigan credit for taking care of business and being steady in a time of unprecedented volatility. Where can they go from here?
• Let’s not spend too long on Michigan.
• Rutgers sure got the most out of MARCH MADNESS huh? It’s almost like making a close finish was more important than winning games!
• Some takes about Mark Turgeon that may already be beyond their expiration date!
• Is Tom Izzo just about done here? One of our writers is very disgruntled about Izzo coaching Michigan State straight into a loss and demonstrating that perhaps Izzo Tourney Magic is a thing of the past.
• How in the world did Ohio State lose to Mouth Bob Academy? Of all the losses, this one is perhaps the most damning indictment of a coach. Could Chris Holtmann find himself on the hot seat sooner than you think? Hear us out.
• Purdue’s future might be bright but the present involved a great time to struggle putting the ball in the hoop. What could they have done to prevent their UNTing?
• Wailing and gnashing of teeth re: Illinois losing to Loyola. TO BE FAIR, our podcast did NOT take Loyola lightly, and frankly this was for all intents and purposes an Elite 8 game. But for a team that was a massively popular Final Four pick, no opponent should be out of reach. So how did it happen? My cohosts get frustrated with me before we even get to the implications of this game and the future outlook, but there’s eventually going to be an offseason cast!
• You knew how Iowa’s season was going to end. I knew how Iowa’s season was going to end. Deep down, Iowa probably knew how their season was going to end. The only question was when. How did the second round represent the worst case scenario for the Hawkeyes in this tournament?
• Let’s talk about refs ba-by, let’s talk about you and me, let’s talk about all the touch fouls that may or may not be! Some hot takes about why the Big Ten has largely faceplanted.

I drank an appreciable quantity of straight Malort to cope with recording this podcast, so you’d better appreciate me by listening.