The story continues in Houston, Illinois advances to the Sweet 16

If you asked Illinois fans in October what they would call a successful season, they would have said make the second weekend. Illinois has experienced so much success in the regular season in the last 7 years, but more consistent NCAA Tournament runs were lacking. 2024 was fun, but there were still some disappointing results in the years around it. There was a narrative that Brad Underwood could not win in March. It was not a fair narrative, but it was one at last. With Illinois advancing to the Sweet 16 for the 2nd time in 3 years, this narrative is officially dead. It was such a good weekend in Greenville for the Illini, and they will have their eyes set on greater and bigger things in Houston this week.

VCU was a sneaky opponent that I was actually mad Illinois drew. I thought North Carolina would have been an easier opponent. VCU showed why in the first half. Illinois built a 17-5 lead eight minutes into game and had some people thinking this was going to be a repeat of the Round of 32 game against Duquesne a couple of years back. VCU did not back down as early as we would have liked. The Rams ramped up the intensity and bothered Illinois with their aggression. The next nine minutes consisted of very sloppy play. The Illini were having trouble even getting a shot on the rim. VCU forced Illinois to match their season average in turnovers in the first 17 minutes of the game. The Illini trailed 28-26 in the final minutes of the half. When Illinois was searching the most, Andrej Stojakovic was the answer. Illinois' biggest offseason investment had his moment that will never be forgotten. A personal 9-0 run from Andrej gave Illinois a 7-point cushion heading into the break. Illinois played poorly for about 75% of the half, but they still held a lead because of an incredible half from Stojakovic. It has been a difficult season for Stojakovic trying to find his role in a winning program. He has dealt with injuries and been asked to things he has never done before like coming off the bench. It was cool to see the reward come in the Round of 32 where he finished with a game high 21 points. When Illinois went and got Stojakovic in the portal, performances like this was why.

The biggest key for the Illini entering the second half was taking care of the ball. VCU did not have enough to keep up with Illinois unless Illinois was careless with the ball. The first three offensive possessions resulted in a 3 point make, a 3 point make, and a dunk. From this moment, it was clear that Illinois was going to win as long as they played their style of basketball.

The biggest highlight of the game with 15 minutes left. Zvonimir Ivisic blocked a dunk attempt and then 5 second later, he threw down a nasty posterizing dunk on the other end of the court. If that sequence does not make its way into "One Shining Moment" we will riot. The dunk gave Illinois a 14-point lead, and the Illini never looked back. If the momentum already wasn't in Illinois' favor, Ivisic's dunk solidified it. Bill Raftery's "Take me to the Balkans, please" call made the moment even more sweet. VCU made it a scary first half, but the second half was one of the more enjoyable ones of the season.

What This Means:

For the second time in three seasons, Illinois will be playing in the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. It might not sound that impressive, but Illinois reached the depth of despair in the 2010s. Illinois had not seen the Sweet 16 since the 2005 National Championship runner-up team. When Josh Whitman hired Brad Underwood in 2017, nights like Saturday is what he envisioned. Underwood earned his 300th career win, and it won't be his last. Illinois has gotten to a point under Underwood that fans are expecting to win games like Saturday. Brad Underwood helped put Illinois Basketball back on the map, and he is helping the program stay there.

The last month-and-a-half was one of the most painful ones in a while. Illinois made fans believe this was a Final Four team with National Championship aspirations. After a 20-3 start and eclipsing a top 5 ranking in the AP Poll, Illinois dropped 5 of 9 games, all in excruciating fashion. Illinois was so close in all but one of those games. Some people were arguing Illinois was unlucky, while others said that Illinois was not clutch. The Illini let any chance of winning a Big Ten Title slip away with gut wrenching losses. The Big Ten Tournament was an even bigger flop. Fans were understandably but probably overreacting to the recent struggles. People said the season was over. I won't lie and say I was not apart of any overreactions, but I at least was waiting to see what happened in Greenville. A small group of people were genuinely calling for Brad Underwood to be fired. The failures over the last month left one opportunity for Illinois to salvage success beyond a second-place Big Ten regular season finish. Fans wanted one thing and it was simply winning at least two NCAA Tournament games. We all knew how good this team is, and one more weekend with them was not enough. This does not mean that were expecting to lose next week in Houston, but Illinois has met our adjusted expectations. What if the Illini reach the heights we had pictured in late January and early February?

Whether you like it or not, Brad Underwood will be coaching at Illinois for however long he wants. Illinois will keep knocking on the Final Four's door as long as he is here. Could this be the year that door opens?