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Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I remember watching this Selection Show from my sophomore dorm room at the University of Illinois. I was feeling a bit conflicted after the brackets were released. I felt fortunate that Illinois was awarded a number-four seed after an uneven season, with the first two rounds at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, where the Illini rarely lost. With that said, I was worried about a possible second-round matchup against number-five seed Florida. Just two years before, the Gators had roughed up the Illini during a second round game in Winston Salem, North Carolina. Of course, Illinois would get lucky as Creighton would upset Florida during the first round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament. Looking ahead to the Sweet Sixteen, I was not thrilled about a potential Illinois-Kansas rematch from the same round during the 2001 NCAA Tournament. While Illinois won that game a year before, the 2001-02 version of Kansas was one of the best teams in the country, in my opinion, entering the tournament just behind Duke and Maryland. Of course, Illinois would face Kansas during the Sweet Sixteen of the 2002 NCAA Tournament, with the Jayhawks holding on after a furious comeback by the Illini during the final minutes of a game held at the University of Wisconsin's Kohl Center, a house of horrors for Illinois basketball.
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