First off, thanks for all the internet love.  Before yesterday, I think the only way that people found the site was the Buzztap links. Well, that, and the one person who showed up in my pn-counter having found the site by searching the words “Hubie Graham Spring Game” in Google. Welcome Mrs. Graham!

Anyway, thanks for the Scout shout out and the Loyalty royalty.  As you can probably tell, this blog will mostly be about my one great passion in life: Illini Football (poor sap, I know).  But something has to get us from the Citrus Bowl to the great McGee-Charest-Scheelhaase-Whitmer QB battle in spring ball, and a fairly decent basketball program might just be the thing to do it.  However, with hoops recruiting wrapped up through 2010 and the first football practice only two weeks away, don’t expect to hear Brandon Paul’s name much around here until November.

All that said, here’s some basketball content. The Columbus Dispatch has released the list of one-play teams for Big Ten play this winter, and finally the scales are tipped in our favor. The last two years, our “play ‘em once” teams were Iowa and Northwestern.  Their final rankings in the Big Ten standings those two years? 8th/10th and 11th/9th, respectively.  The schedule makers did us no favors by giving us only two games per year against the two worst teams in the Big Ten. Well, not the two worst teams. Indiana was the worst team in the Big Ten last year.  That’s Indiana University. The worst team in the Big Ten. Pathetically awful, ridiculously inept Indiana University, for the record. Just so we’re clear. IU.

So who will that Kendall Gill clone over there get to face only once as a freshman? Minnesota at home and Michigan on the road.  Suh-weet.  With Sims and Harris back, Michigan stands to have its best season in 15 years.  And with Royce White and Rodney Williams joining 5 returning starters, Minnesota might have its best season since 1997.  I won’t shed one tear for getting Iowa and Northwestern twice while not traveling to Minneapolis.

See – Illinois basketball insight. With a bullet. Tomorrow we return to our regularly scheduled programming and break down the offensive tackles. Both of them.