Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. Oh, how this game still hurts to this day as it was the last game in the Orange and Blue for Dee Brown and James Augustine. I remember watching this game while on the phone with my Dad, trying to figure out how to do my taxes given that I had lived in two states, Illinois and North Carolina, the previous year. I was quite annoyed as my attention was being taken away from a game during which Washington came out and punched the Illini in the face. Illinois would have an incredible rally and even lead by 10 points at one point in the second half. After finishing my taxes, I remember getting on the phone with my brother to talk about how if Illinois continued to play like this, the Illini could beat #1 UCONN in the Sweet Sixteen. Of course, Washington came back to take the lead. Illinois had a final shot to win the game, but Brown missed a three over the outstretched arms of Washington's Bobby Jones. I will never forget the CBS cameras following Brown running into the locker room for the last time as an Illini. The realization hit me then and stays with me today: one of the greatest eras in Illinois basketball history, the Dee Brown years, had come to an end. :-( Luckily for me, I got to witness three of those amazing four years as a student at the U-of-I. To this day, Illinois has had better basketball players than Dee, but no one player was more important in the program's history than the orange headband-wearing Brown! :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. This game makes me feel a bit sad as it was the second-to-last game for Illinois seniors Dee Brown and James Augustine. I remember watching this game on a Thursday night, obviously rooting for my Alma Mater but reminiscing about the Illinois team the season before that lost in the national title game with seniors Deron Williams, Luther Head and Roger Powell, Jr. Watching this 2005-06 Illini season was a bit of a haze as I was living in North Carolina at the time. While Illinois got as high as #6 in the rankings, the Illini just felt so different without Deron, Luther and The Reverend. I remember watching a show that was on ESPN Classic at the time called Classic Now, with one of the pundits picking this Illinois team with Dee and Auggie to win the national championship. That prediction got me excited and elevated my hopes for the tournament. While Illinois would get by a pesky Air Force team coached by a former NBA Head Coach Jeff Bzdelik, the Illini would fall in a memorable second-round game against a Washington team featuring Brandon Roy.