Illinois coach Brad Underwood has no issues playing against the Houston Cougars in their backyard.
He’s had to drive much farther.
“I’ll be honest, I (couldn’t) care less,” Underwood said Wednesday. “I’m going to sound really selfish here. I’m an old JUCO ball coach. I drove 16-passenger vans. I drove from Dodge City, Kan., to Mesa, Ariz., for a basketball tournament in a bus. If you would have told me back then that I’m getting to coach basketball in the Sweet 16 and play Houston, I would sign up for it. I would crawl to get there.”
As the No. 2 seed, Houston was placed in the South Region, which will host the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight at Toyota Center. The drive is a little more than two miles from the UH campus.
“We’re not worried about the crowd,” Illini forward/center Zvonimir Ivisic said. “We expected it was going to be a good crowd here. We play Houston. We don’t play the fans.”