[Cactus Jack]

We're all big on Illinois and they've looked really good at times and many of their struggles came while they had players out with injuries or slowed with illnesses, but I think Xavier handles Texas in Dayton tomorrow and it's not a stretch to see them doing well in Milwaukee too.

X has had their share of injuries this season too and they performed pretty well against their schedule considering. The losses to Georgetown and Villanova don't look great, but they're rival programs with some tradition at least. Look at them from January 7th forward and you can see why I don't think it will be a cakewalk. They definitely have the potential to be a much more formidable opponent than Troy.

I think Illinois wins and that a good dark horse to go deep because they're really unique in the kind of matchup problems that they present-- they have a lot of really long, extremely skilled players mixed with a bunch of really tough, hard-nosed Chicago area kids who bring the grit that Euros are sometimes accused of lacking; but I won't be shocked if Xavier upsets them.