Braggin' Rights

That’s about all the Illini have to look forward between now and March. This is a game they can surely win. After this is the Big T-eleven conference games and I am pessimistic about their future.

27th Annual Busch Braggin’ Rights • St. Louis, Mo. • Scottrade Center (22,153)
Game #11: Illinois (6-4) vs. Missouri (8-3)
Dec. 22, 2007 • 7:30 p.m. CT • ESPN2 ESPN2: Dave O’Brien, play-by-play; Steve Lavin, expert analyst.

Illini Probable Starters
F - 42 Brian Randle (r-Sr, 6-8, 220, 10.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.2 apg)
C - 55 Shaun Pruitt (Sr., 6-10, 245, 13.1 ppg, 8.4 rpg)
G - 25 Calvin Brock (r-Jr., 6-5, 195, 8.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.5 spg)
G – 1 Trent Meachem (r-Jr., 6-2, 195, 10.6 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.1 spg)
G - 3 Chester Frazier (Jr., 6-2, 190, 5.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 3.9 apg, 1.0 spg)

From the Illini site:

Illinois owns an 18-8 advantage over Missouri in Braggin’ Rights games played in St. Louis … Illinois won eight consecutive games from 1983-90 and won nine of the first 10 games played in St. Louis … After Missouri won seven of nine games from 1991-99, Illinois has won the last seven games in the series (2000-06) … Bruce Weber is undefeated in the Braggin’ Rights, owning a 4-0 record. Weber’s lone loss to Mizzou came in the first round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament when he was at Southern Illinois … Saturday’s meeting marks the second straight year but just the seventh time in 27 years of the series that neither team is ranked in the Top 25 … After Thursday’s defeat to Miami (OH), Illinois enters the Braggin’ Rights game coming off a loss for the first time since 1998 when the Illini lost to Kansas in Kansas City on Dec. 19 before falling to Missouri on Dec. 22.

Projection: Illini 67 Mizzou 58