Good fair NYTimes article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/sp.../27rhoden.html
Unbelievably, They Made New Believers
By WILLIAM C. RHODEN
Published: March 27, 2005
osemont, Ill.
LIKE everyone outside Illini Nation, I wondered how the University of Illinois had done it.
Before last night, Illinois had to be one of the most lightly regarded No. 1 teams in college basketball history. Last night, it showed the nation why it had been on top for 15 weeks and had won 35 of 36 games, advancing to its first Final Four in 16 years.
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If Louisville's comeback from 20 points behind West Virginia was improbable, Illinois's 90-89 comeback to win its 36th game of the season was downright unbelievable.
Louisville had an entire half to catch up. The Illini's rally came out of the blue. They were down by 15 points with 4 minutes 4 seconds left, and there wasn't much sign of a pulse - not on the floor and not in the stands, especially not in the stands.
You could almost hear the soul-searching - the pondering of what effect a tournament loss would have on a great season.
Just like that, Illinois leaped back to life: a 3-pointer, a basket in the lane, a score after a steal, a basket and then a steal, leading to another basket.
We looked up, and Illinois had pulled to 80-77 with 45.3 seconds remaining, the arena roaring with delayed-reaction hysteria. Jack Ingram tipped an Arizona inbounds pass, and after a crazy scramble, Illinois came up with the ball. Deron Williams, a junior guard and hereby nominated as Illinois's most valuable player of the decade, nailed a 3-pointer to tie the score.
Williams not only scored 22 points, but he also led a defensive effort that held Salim Stoudamire to 2-for-13 shooting and 9 points.
Williams hit two 3-pointers in overtime, and Luther Head, a senior guard virtually playing on one leg because of a pulled hamstring, hobbled in for a breakaway layup to give Illinois a 90-84 lead.
The Illini miracle continues.
Illinois's James Augustine said: "My body is just shaking right now. I can't explain what this feels like. I think we might just be jumping around on the bus the whole way back." Illinois guard Dee Brown simply said, "It was just meant to be."
The team wins 35 of 36 games and spends 15 weeks at the top of the rankings, yet before yesterday, no one looked at Illinois and shivered.
Opponents were more likely to look at Illinois and salivate. After Oklahoma State lost to Arizona on Thursday in the Chicago Regional semifinals of the N.C.A.A. tournament, Eddie Sutton, the Cowboys' coach, lamented that he would not get a shot at the Illini.
He said he thought his team matched up well with them. In the first round of the tournament, 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson, of all teams, thought it matched up well with Illinois. Opponents have apparently not arranged their TV viewing schedules around Illinois this season, as they might have done with glamour teams like Duke and North Carolina.
Before last night's game, Arizona players said they had not watched the Illini this season. But Illinois players said they had watched a number of Arizona games.
The Illini, for reasons Illinois Coach Bruce Weber tried to explain, were perceived as beatable, vulnerable.
"I don't think we have dominant size; we don't have really one guy going for 30 or 28 or something like that," Weber said. "When you look at us, it's probably not that intimidating. It's a little bit of old-school basketball, and that's not always impressive to people because they don't see the spectacular plays."
Still, the news media almost created the perception that a team that went 35-1 could be an underdog.
Someone asked the Illinois players if Arizona was the best team they would face this season. The question overlooked the fact that two of Illinois's Big Ten rivals, Michigan State and Wisconsin, had also reached the Round of 8.
This was supposed to be a down season for the Big Ten and a strong one for the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big East. But the Big Ten was represented by three of the final eight teams, and the A.C.C. (North Carolina) and the Big East (West Virginia) each had one.
One difference between Arizona and Illinois could be seen in the backcourt, in the contrast between Stoudamire and Brown. Brown is self-effacing, a piece of the Illinois puzzle. Stoudamire expects to be in the N.B.A. next season. When somebody asked Brown about leaving for the pros after his junior season, he said: "N.B.A.? You serious? I'm not even thinking about that.
"I like college. I like what we're doing. I wish I could play on this team that we have right now for three more years."
Of all the teams left, the Illini are the most intriguing. But they are not a juggernaut. They lack the one unstoppable player everyone talks about. Yet they win. What they have is a team of juniors and seniors who have been on an incredible journey.
Weber was asked during the past several days whether a loss in the N.C.A.A. tournament would invalidate his team's remarkable season.
"How you finish is what people remember," he said.
The people will remember this finish for decades to come.
For a national audience that wondered: Why all the fuss about Illinois? Now we know.