Before I begin, it bears repeating that I’m a born-and-bred Illinois Fighting Illini fan living about 30 minutes from Iowa City. I’m surrounded by tiger hawks, black & gold, and “In Heaven There Is No Beer” playing on a loop. My wife worked at the University of Iowa for the past four years. I was joking that I’d be Googling “divorce lawyers near me” at some point during the game. I may have been told to sleep in the guest room Friday night. Now then, let’s get back to the business at hand.
Like the previous two matchups between the Illini and Hawkeyes, Friday’s game had the look and feel of March Madness (without the 15,000 screaming fans, as coach Brad Underwood pointed out postgame) — two teams that have sights on playing for a national title slugging it out for 40 minutes.