Illinois super senior point guard Trent Frazier doesn’t like to get into the extracurriculars of a basketball game. Instead, he’d rather just roll the ball out and play.
But even he admits that Friday’s game between No. 25 Illinois and Michigan at State Farm Center is between two teams who “don’t like each other.”
The storylines heading into Friday night’s 8:00 p.m. tip-off in Champaign are rooted in last season’s race for the Big Ten regular season crown. Illinois felt that because they had the most regular season wins, including a 23-point beat down over the No. 2 ranked Wolverines on the road was deserving of recognition from the league offices.
But a unanimous preseason vote from the Big Ten’s athletic directors determined that the winner of the Big Ten regular season championship would be won by the team had the best winning percentage in the case that all 14 programs weren’t able to complete the 20-game conference schedule because of Covid-19.
“There is a hatred because I feel like we should have another Big Ten banner in our rafters,” sophomore forward Coleman Hawkins said. “But it’s not there. With the way they talk on social media, the way our fans talk about them, I feel a strong hatred and rivalry with them.”
Maybe the hatred is misdirected at Michigan, instead of the system that was agreed upon before the season. But it wouldn’t be as fun for Illinois fans to loathe the system, so instead, they have chosen to hold the Wolverines prisoner. But hating the Wolverines became a lot easier in the summer when Michigan’s sophomore center Hunter Dickinson twice made comments about Illinois that didn’t sit well.
In August, Dickinson said “Nobody in the Big Ten, and I mean nobody likes Illinois.” Then in October at Big Ten Basketball Media Days in Indianapolis, Dickinson said, “Really, it’s the fans. They just act like they’re some powerhouse in the Big Ten and they’re really not. They’re one of the best teams in the Big Ten now, but I don’t know too much history about Illinois basketball. I don’t know if they were really that good before. Coach (Brad) Underwood has done a great job of getting them up to the powerhouses in NCAA basketball. But I think their fans are kind of annoying. Obviously, some fans, like Michigan State you’re going to get some hate from them. Ohio State, it’s not so bad. Illinois fans are pretty annoying, not going to lie.”
The comments that Dickinson made didn’t seem to sit poorly with the Illini – in fact, they were taken as a compliment.
“I kind of liked that,” Frazier said. “I’m glad nobody likes us. I’m glad that people hate playing against us. It shows how good of a program we are; we turned the ropes. Coach Underwood has done an unbelievable job changing this program. WE play at a high level every night and it’s fun playing out there in front of fans every night.”
Dickinson did say that he is “cool” with Illini center Kofi Cockburn at Media Days, but, again, it wouldn’t be as fun for Illini fans to acknowledge that two of the Big Ten’s best players could possibly have a good relationship off the court. But that doesn’t mean that the Illini aren’t confident that they have the better front court player.
“I think it’s going to send a message to all the people that try to put them in the same category,” Hawkins said. “I think Kofi is a much more dominant player. I think better defender, better feet. I think it’s going to be a huge matchup. I think at the end of the game, you will understand who is the most dominant college basketball player.”
It wasn’t long ago that every other program in the Big Ten probably enjoyed playing Illinois – back when the Illini were one of the bottom tier programs in the Big Ten in the 2010s under former head coach John Groce and in the first two years under Underwood. But over the course of the last three season’s no team in the conference has won more games than the Illini.
“We are hard to beat,” Hawkins said. “People don’t play the same when they play us, and that’s evident.”
Illinois has already announced a sell-out crowd for Friday night’s game, but they are trying to squeeze as many people into the arena as possible by making more tickets available on Friday morning.
“It definitely gives you some extra juice,” Hawkins said. “But you try to respect your opponent, stay humble and go out there and don’t think about the little things that someone might have said. Just go play hard and try to get the win.”
Friday’s game is one that Illinois fans have been clamoring over since the schedule was released. With a primetime tip-off on a Friday night, Underwood is urging Illini fans to be rowdy because that’s what makes college basketball special.
“It’s going to be an elite college basketball game between two elite programs with rich histories with really good players in the game,” he said. “If people can come enjoy that, have fun, cheer for their home team, man that’s what makes this sport special. It’s what makes Illinois basketball special.”
