EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Perfection is waiting on Illinois, stretching out like a plush orange carpet. Perfection is the Illini's challenge. Perfection is their mandate.
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| Deron Williams and the rest of Illinois' guard rotation continue to dominate games. (AP) |
The Illini (22-0) have beaten the daylights out of Gonzaga and Wake Forest and Cincinnati. They've ended Wisconsin's 38-game home winning streak, and they've sullied Michigan State's 10-0 home record this season.
Now that they've gotten past Michigan State and the Breslin Center crowd of 14,759, the Illini have no business losing this season. Not once. Anything less than perfection, and Illinois will have underachieved.
That's a harsh gauntlet to lay down, but so be it. The facts demand it. Illinois' situation has changed dramatically since October or November, when everyone knew the Illini would be good -- but not this good. Just a few months ago, the 2005 national championship was a lofty goal for the Illini, reachable but worthy.
It's not a worthy goal now. Not any more. Winning it all? That's not good enough for these Illini, who are better than merely the best team in college basketball. They are good enough to be perfect, especially with what promises to be the perfect postseason itinerary.
If the Illini can make it through the regular season unscathed, they'll be the de facto home team in every game they play the rest of the way. The Big Ten Tournament is March 10-13 at the United Center in Chicago. For the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, the Illini expect to be sent to the Indianapolis pod. For the next two rounds, the Illini probably will go to the Chicago regional.
And then the Final Four is in St. Louis.
Illinois fans won't have to get on a plane again. Neither will Illinois.
That kind of unusual home-court advantage through March, coupled with this kind of unusually talented team, has Illinois on the threshold of perfection. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo tried not to put too much pressure on Illinois and Bruce Weber, even apologizing at times for what he was about to say, but his postgame comment made clear what should already be clear to everyone:
The only team that can stop Illinois is Illinois.
"That's one of the best (teams) I've seen," Izzo said. "I just don't see them having the mental letdown. No egos there -- there's not an ego on the team. You can just tell by the way they play. There's no distractions. It's getting like a rock-group tour where everybody's following them, but you've got four or five seniors and I think they're prepared to handle that.
"I hate to be a predictor, but I like their chances. I think a team's going to have to play awfully well, and (Illinois is) going to have to have more than a few guys play poorly."
