wisconsin-milwaukee
its gonna take a minor miracle for uwm to win this game straight up, but the only reason this line is in double digits is because their jerseys say "milwaukee" as opposed to ncstate or west virginia or utah or texas tech. uwm is every bit as good as those schools but they still have to deal with the stigma of being a horizon league school. ive said it before and its worth repeating: wisconsin-milwaukee is an atypical horizon league team and an atypical midmajor program. theyre very similar to the kent state team that made an elite 8 run three years ago. both the '02 kent state team and the '05 milwaukee team shoot the ball well from 3pt range, play solid defense, are well-coached, and have upperclassmen who are calm under pressure.
if vermont or bucknell would have advanced to the sweet 16 round, both would have been grossly outclassed against their opponent. but milwaukee is not.
is illinois going to be a big time test for milwaukee? absolutely. will the illini have a few mismatches? perhaps. will illinois outclass milwaukee in this game? no way.
pearl has built a damn solid program in milwaukee and having been an assistant under tom davis, he has certainly molded this group into almost a big 10-type team. his guys really get after it and force you into a style that you dont want to play.
incidentally, all the talk is about how illinois hasnt forgotten about what pearl did to their program years ago when the whole deon thomas recruiting scandal took place.
but pearl didnt exactly 'win' in that situation. he had to start his career over in division II and build a championship program at that level and now at the midmajor division I level. he's on the brink of all but guaranteeing himself another shot at a big-time program in a power conference. and as far as the illini go, im sure the disdain and hatred is reciprocated. theres a good article i read on cbssportsline last evening about pearl and all the drama that went down years ago. if someone could find it, its worth posting (and reading)
bottom line is that milwaukee is not an 'overmatched cinderella'. theyre a solid basketball team that has some homegrown talent as well as some transfers (mccants and tucker) that make up a solid basketball team.
milwaukee wont be intimidated. theyre certainly not on illinois level, but that doesnt mean theyre gonna lay down for the illini. this should be a game that is decided by 5 or 7 points.
