Illinois got the two wins they needed in the Big Ten Tournament, including an overtime thriller versus Indiana, and snuck into the tournament as an always-ominous 12 seed. The Illini will play fifth-seeded Virgina Tech on Friday in Columbus, Ohio.

Bracket-buffs know 12’s always beat fives.

This time, though, the saying might not hold true. Virginia Tech finished fourth in the powerful ACC with big wins over Iowa, Duke, Boston College, Maryland and North Carolina. They exited the ACC tournament early at the hands of the almost-Cinderella North Carolina State, but are a strong team. VT has four players who average in double digits, including senior guard Zabian Dowdell, who averages over 18 points a game.

Even if Illinois does get past a very good Virginia Tech squad, they could face Southern Illinois in the second round, a possible recruiting nightmare if the Illini lose to Bruce Weber’s old crew.

Still, Illini fans got to be happy they snuck into the tournament. They’re the lowest seeded Big Ten team, but on the bright side, they could play a mid-major team in round two and they do get to play a big conference team in the first round that has lost to some questionable teams (Western Michigan, George Washington, N.C. State three times!). VT could also be looking past the Illini to Southern Illinois, a team they lost to earlier this season. Illinois could surprise VT with their suffocating defense and, if Rich McBride finds his stroke the Illini offense might be able to edge out the Hokies. This is a winable game.

After all, 12’s always beat fives.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 11th, 2007 at 4:47 pm and is filed under Illini Basketball, College Basketball, College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.