Illinois probably has a top 5 alumni base in terms of pure numbers. A very large group of people they are. I actually surprised they're not more influential than they already appear to be. The alums/boosters run Ohio State. I would think Illinois would be similar.
Yes, and that would have something do with Illinois, population wise, being the 5th largest state.
I think one of our main problems...is lack of pride. So many people around here claim to be OSU fans or Kentucky fans, when they know nothing of those schools and only 'like' them on account of they are popular.
There used to be pride, back in 04-05, but that has since passed due to recent failures.
In that way I think I can relate to Ohio fans, always having to listen to Ohio State fans, or other schools hogging the glory when it's obvious your school deserves some too. Even worse for you, since there were so many Ohio teams in the tournament! Hard to get noticed in such a crowd as that, but this year put you above most of the other Ohio schools.
Also similarly, we lost our best coach, Bill Self to Kansas as you lot probably know, it's just a massive food chain, we get someone good and woosh, they're off to 'better' places. I'm sure that's how you feel now, but hopefully all of us get what we want out of this.
Last Edited: 3/27/2012 9:28:40 PM by Illinoisfan