Illini fans pumped to watch highly ranked team
Updated: December 11, 2012
CHAMPAIGN -- Illini fans have another reason to be excited about their basketball team's hot start.
It's the first time they've been able
to watch a top ten team at home since March 2006.
Illinois jumped from 13th to 10th
yesterday in the national rankings.
The team wasn't even ranked when the
season started. Fans say they love the attention. But some say it's too early
to get excited.
"It's nice to have Illinois
basketball seem relevant again. I've seen tons of stuff on ESPN, on the
website. It's just nice to have that
exposure. I really think that will help
coach Groce with his recruiting," said fan Andrew Nevill.
"I'm not too worried about necessarily
staying in the top ten all year. It's a first year under a new coach, some
younger kids. So hopefully we can stay competitive and get to the tournament
again," said fan Ryan Dubnicek.
Fans also say you can't gauge the team
until Big Ten play starts. That's not until next month.
