this game should be a good indicater of exactly how good the Zags really are...Illinois plays in a extremely brutal conference with 6 of the teams being ranked in the top 25,,,,themselves being undefeated and ranked 13th...this team has played and beaten Butler 78-61,,,,Being in the Big Ten forces them to play an extremely competitive schedule in front of loud crowds/mad mobs/hostile enviroments such as they will get when they take the court here in spokane...even their nickname (Fighting Illini) infers what may turn out to be quite a battle...Luckily we catch them in the early part of their season and the zags are very fortunate to be playing at home...I'll be glued to the tube running to the frig./bathroom during time outs... to me games like these is what college basketball is all about,,, yes this game should give us a clear idea on how good the zags are gonna be,,,,, hopefully they will make alot of doubters(including myself) into true believers,,,GO ZAGS