Dear Fellow Illini Fans,

I have an unusual request for the rest of this surprising basketball season: Root for your older brother 56 miles west.

The Illinois State Redbirds men’s basketball team is our Missouri Valley Conference doppelganger. Not too many people expected the Illini or the Redbirds to make too much noise this season, but both are quite capable of making the NCAA Tournament.

Illinois State (17-4, 6-4 in the MVC) sits third in its conference after a 59-55 loss at MVC-leader Northern Iowa on Wednesday night. However, the Redbirds have the best overall record in the Missouri Valley.

But Osiris Eldridge and Co. will need some help.

When the dust settles in March, the MVC will probably only squeeze one team into the NCAA Tourney … maybe two. So it’s all going to come down to who wins the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at the end of the year.

This year’s Redbirds, who haven’t played in the NCAA Tournament since 1998, are more than capable. Last year’s Redbirds finished 25-10 and lost to Dayton in the second round of the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).

Here in the Big Ten, we’re all spoiled with our five to seven bids every season. Power-conference teams with higher strengths of schedule and increased popularity inevitably benefit from NCAA Tournament committee bias come Selection Sunday.

Last year, Drake was the MVC’s sole representative in the tournament. The year before that, Creighton and Southern Illinois earned postseason appearances.

This year, it’s ISU’s turn. There’s plenty of room on the Redbird bandwagon. Hop on – if not because of your secret love of Doug Collins, then because of your appreciation for your Midwestern brethren who flock 45 minutes east down I-74 to celebrate Unofficial.

OK, let’s be serious. The Redbirds can ball this season. ISU is 12-0 at home and has three players averaging over 11 points per game. Champ Oguchi (15.2 ppg) leads the team in scoring and Dinma Odiakosa is posting 7.3 rebounds per contest. I already mentioned Osiris (who sports a sweet mohawk along with his 14.1 ppg and 6.0 rpg).

How can you not love those names?

And how sweet would it be if ISU and Illinois both made the NCAA Tournament this year? Heck, the two teams could potentially face each other in a first-round matchup. The Illini are on pace for a No. 4, 5 or 6 seed. Traditionally, smaller conference winners earn No. 13 or 14 seeds.

Picture an opening round game with the No. 4-seeded Illini against the No. 13-seeded Redbirds in Portland, Ore., or Boise, Idaho. That’s a college memory right there.

You’ve got nothing to lose.

Trust me; ISU won’t steal an at-large bid from the Orange and Blue.

And if by some weird coincidence they do? Well, then the Illini screwed up big time down the stretch and wouldn’t deserve a tournament appearance anyway.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m an Illini fan through and through. But I’m sure plenty of us have friends at ISU, or maybe sometimes you just get sick of 19-year-olds at the bars.

Go Illini! And Redbirds.

Sincerely, Ryan Dixon

Ryan Dixon is a senior in Media. He can be reached at [email protected]