The Linking Illini Is Enjoying Its Day In The Sun

It has been a pretty good day around the Illini neck of the woods. It tends to be like that when the basketball team puts together an amazing win over a top five team. Lots of back pats at work from your fellow Illini fans, texts from old college buddies, and probably just a little overreaction "So how high in the draft does this mean Brandon Paul goes?"

Yeah it probably means the Illini will be ranked again, and it means they are in the mix for a lot more than we may have thought beforehand. Of course it could all go to hell again, and the people could relight their torches and sharpen their pitchforks. But I don't care about that today. Today I just sit back and enjoy all the positive LINKS.

Klee: A special night for Brandon Paul | IlliniHQ.com
News Gazette beat writer Paul Klee's write up of the Brandon Paul Masterpiece, including a weighty statement from Illini an Illini great who knows what he is talking about ""It was the best (performance) I've ever seen here," Flyin' Illini guard Stephen Bardo said afterward"

Illinois Upsets No. 5 Ohio State - ESPN Video - ESPN
Mike Tirico finally gets it right, and identifies our star center as Meyers, not Myles, Leonard. Dan Dakich gets all Grudeny in his praise of Brandon Paul, only with x's and o's chops to back it up.

Ballin' is a Habit: Brandon Paul was incredible against Ohio State, but it may not be as good of a sign as you think
Always terrific Ballin' Is A Habit Breaks Down Brandon Paul's amazing performance, (hey I heard he scored like 43 points) but also has a word of caution for Illini fans getting too excited about things. "Paul was absolutely unreal in the second half against Ohio State. He put on, undoubtedly, one of the most impressive shooting displays that I have ever seen. He was, in a word, unhuman. - And Illinois still barely beat Ohio State at home. "

Big Ten Geeks: The Brandon Paul Game " Big Ten Network
The Geeks get all analytical on the game that defined efficiency Brandon Paul's 43 points on 15 shots. They use a lot of numbers and figures at you, so that you know it is an empirical fact that Brandon Paul was in Beast Mode.

Five Takeaways: Ohio State vs. Illinois - Searching for Billy Edelin
Even more good vibrations pointed at the Illini, this time from SB Nation's must read college basketball blog Searching for Billy Edelin. "It was impossible to miss Paul's father, who was sitting a few rows behind the basket, sporting a sly grin most of the second half. And how could he not? This was one of the best individual performances we've seen all year. Hell, maybe the best. We're talking about a kid who entered the night with a 12.1 per game scoring average, shooting just 36.4% on his FGs and 28.4% from behind the arc. And he just TORCHED one of the best squads in the country. Well done

Gonzales to Leave LSU, Accept Coordinator Position - LSUsports.net
Hey Look! FOOTBALL NEWS! AND GOOD NEWS! Tim Beckman finally has his offensive coordinator in Billy Gonzales of LSU, who was part of an amazing LSU team that just lost the BCS championship. Now provided that Gonzales doesn't have a change of heart tomorrow, this will be awesome. He is a great recruiter, in the heart of SEC country, where its no secret that Illinois has done well in harvesting lately. Now we just need a DC.