Flames embrace high expectations

(as published in Whoosh! magazine Nov. 4, 2003)

Get used to it, Flames. You’ve got the big bull’s-eye planted on your backsides.

Almost every major college basketball preview magazine, as well as their Horizon League peers, has made UIC the odds-on favorite to conference champions in 2003-04.

UIC coach Jimmy Collins (pictured) traditionally prefers the experts to set lower expectations for his teams, but he has strong belief in this year’s squad.

“I don’t think there’s a game on the schedule we can’t win,” Collins said. “I think we can beat everyone on the schedule. I think we’re talented enough, we’re deep enough and we’re experienced enough.”

The Flames received 32 of 35 first-place votes in the Horizon League preseason poll, easily outdistancing Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Butler for the favorite slot.

Ironically, the Flames have finished right where the Horizon poll has projected them the last four seasons. Last year, the Flames placed third with a 21-9 record (12-4 in conference) after a third-place prediction. In 2001-02, UIC was selected to finish sixth and finished right there with a 20-14 mark (8-8 in the conference).

The Flames earned their accolades, mostly because of a talented and deep veteran roster and national postseason appearances the last two seasons. Basketball News preview magazine made a significant statement, making UIC the No. 38 team in the nation.

“We put pressure on ourselves to excel every day,” said Flames senior center Joe Scott, unfazed by the strength of the schedule. “We’re just going to try to improve game-by-game. We want to be playing our best basketball at the end of the year.”

UIC played in the National Invitation Tournament last year and losing to Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the Horizon League tournament semifinals.

The Flames went to the NCAA tournament in 2001-02 after making a stunning run in the conference tournament, knocking off No. 2-seeded Milwaukee and third-seeded Detroit before defeating Loyola in a historic overtime tilt in the Horizon League final.

While the Flames appear to have the inside track to the Horizon League’s automatic bid this season, UIC athletic director Jim Schmidt had a good back-up plan: stack the schedule with quality opponents and hope to play for an at-large bid, just in case the Flames can’t win the league tournament.

“Scheduling is the most difficult thing in college basketball today when it comes to administrative work,” Schmidt said. “If we get off to the kind of start we think can with our non-conference schedule and we get some national accolades in terms of beating teams we can beat, I think we’ll some votes for the top 25. Hopefully, by the time we get to the conference [schedule], we’ll be right in the mix for a Top 30 program.”

Besides quality Horizon League foes such as Sweet 16 participant Butler and NCAA tournament qualifier Milwaukee, Schmidt scheduled contests with Illinois, Northwestern, and appearances in two in-season tournaments.

The Flames could meet Xavier in the finals of the eight-team Black Coaches Association Classic in the next couple of weeks. Also, UIC could meet both a solid Northern Illinois squad and Iowa, a Big Ten postseason contender, in the Hawkeye Challenge Dec. 5-6.

UIC will also participate as a home team in ESPN’s Bracket Buster Saturday for the second consecutive season. It will be an opportunity for the Flames to be paired with a quality mid-major program likely from the Missouri Valley Conference, Mid-American Conference, or the Western Athletic Conference. The opponent for that game will be announced on or about Feb. 1, 2004 and could be a game that helps the NCAA selection committee see how good the Flames can potentially be.

“It will be better format this season, because they’ll be able to pair up better teams,” Schmidt said, adding that last year’s Bracket Buster didn’t quite produce the results for which he hoped.

The Flames’ game with sister school Illinois takes place at the United Center Tuesday, Dec. 30. The Illini return dynamic point guard Dee Brown and bring in head coach Bruce Weber, who was Southern Illinois’ head man for the past few seasons.

Collins joked about the titanic matchup, while conjuring up thoughts of a neighborhood burger establishment.

“Illinois has all of the McDonald’s All-Americans,” Collins said. “We have the guys that work at the Busy Burger.”