Illinois/Indiana rivalry very much alive

Because I live in the South, I was unable to get the Illinois/Indiana game on CBS on Saturday, instead getting an UCLA/West Virginia game that turned out to be a classic.. still I remained uninterested and didn't watch it.

After reading articles about the game in the Chicago Tribune, Sun-Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Indianapolis Star I think I got a pretty good feel for how the Hoosiers played and how Hoosier Nation greeted Bruce Weber.

I think it's safe to say that this is the rivalry that Hoosier fans and the team can hang its on. I'm not sure how Champaign will greet Eric Gordon when he steps foot in Assembly Hall but my guess is that it's not going to pretty. But I think that the Hoosiers have their Darth Vader... he's smug, unlikable... and he whines. They have a villain.

The traditional IU rivalries, Purdue and Kentucky have fizzled of late and Hoosier Nation needs someone to hate. And they've found that someone...


















You think IU fans believe in their new coach?