being an illinois student fan

While writing the previous post I realized that this is the 5th football season since we graduated. Which means that an entire group of people (Class of '09) came in after we left and have since left as well.

It's a weird thing. It's one thing to think about saying goodbye to the last class that have shared memories with you. For example, the Class of '08. They were Freshman when we were seniors. They were students that shared in our Final Four run, and we may have rubbed elbows that cold night waiting for the Illini bus to come back after they beat Arizona (aka the night we found out Deron had smooth hands).

But the Class of 2009, has no connection to us. And they're already gone.

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So here's a list of all the great things to happen to Illinois sports this decade:

2000-01 Basketball: Elite Eight
2001-02 Football: Sugar Bowl
2004-05 Basketball: Championship Game
2007-08 Football: Rose Bowl

We were fortunate to witness 2 of them.* Of course the Class of '08 got to experience 2 of them as well. But right now half of Illinois students have been there for 1, and the other half are still waiting. If you believe in patterns, you should get excited about the 2010-11 Illini Basketball team.

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*I said that we were fortunate to witness 2 notable seasons. Dating back to 1960, here were the other notable Illinois seasons:

1963-64 Football 8-1-1 (5-1-1 Big Ten) Rose Bowl win
1983-84 Football 10-2 (9-0 Big Ten) Rose Bowl loss
1983-84 Basketball: Elite Eight
1988-89 Basketball: Final Four
1989-90 Football 10-2 (7-1 Big Ten) Citrus Bowl win
1999-00 Football 8-4 (4-4 Big Ten) Micron PC Bowl win

So if you went to U of I in the early 80's, you got a Rose Bowl loss and a decent tourney run.
If you went there in the late 80's, you got a win in a semi-major Bowl and a Final Four run.
And if you started in 1998 or 1999, you were the only Illinois classes ever to witness 3 great seasons: A bowl win (albeit a crappy bowl) an elite eight finish and then a BCS berth.

Still, there are plenty of stretches when Illinois students didn't get any memorable seasons.

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I drew the line at Elite Eight. Sweet Sixteens are exciting for mid-majors but aren't really a notable accomplishment. I suppose the line should really be drawn at Final Four, but I threw Illinois a bone.