The Ramblers crushed Georgia Tech on the glass, outrebounding the Yellow Jackets 30-17, grabbing 13 offensive boards and scoring 15 second-chance points. Tech didn't have big man Moses Wright. That advantage will not be there Sunday against Illinois and Kofi Cockburn (17.6 ppg, 9.5 rpg). He and Ayo Dosunmu get most of the headlines, but this is a deep team with multiple shot creators, the nation's best 3-point shooter in Da'Monte Williams and an elite defense that rivals Loyola's. Lay the points.

Illinois is playing its best basketball of the season during its eight-game win streak (7-1 ATS). The Illini deserved a No. 1 seed, but they certainly didn’t deserve to face one of the most fundamentally sound basketball teams in the nation in the second round. Loyola was improperly posted as a No. 8, and now here we are. I hate to see either of these teams eliminated at this early stage. Both teams shoot about 50 percent and allow about 40 percent. I took the points with Loyola.