Illinois' NCAA Path: Root for VCU or North Carolina?

0:00On March 19, Illinois faces Penn State on Thursday at 8.25pm Central Time on TNT in the first round of the NCAA tournament as the AA Amher third seed. If they win, their second round match up comes against the winner of 6th seeded North Carolina versus 11 seeded VCU, which starts earlier that day at 5.50pm Central Time in Greenville, South Carolina. The game between North Carolina and VCU is a toss-up, with North Carolina favored by just 2.5 points, one of the tightest spreads in the round of 64. VCU has drawn a lot of buzz as a potential upset, with several analysts picking the rams to pull it off. Illinois fans might hope for the lower seed, but it's not so straightforward. North Carolina boasts a huge win over top seeded Duke earlier this season, though their missing star freshman Caleb Wilson, who suffered, season ending hand in thumb injuries, and averaged nearly 20 points and 10 rebounds a game. Without Wilson, the tar heels are 5 and 3, beating some solid teams like Louisville and Virginia

1:05Tech, while dropping games to Duke and others. Now in the tournament, they still have a 7 foot all ACC center in Henry Vesar, averaging over 16 points and nearly 9 rebounds, plus quick senior guard Seth, tremble score in 14 a game. That makes North Carolina a tougher stylistic fit for Illinois, so rooting for VCU could give the Alina a smoother path forward in the bracket.