3) Among Iowa fans, there's no real consensus about which school is our biggest rival in basketball. Some folks say Iowa State, some say Wisconsin, and many argue Illinois. The Iowa-Illinois rivalry was pretty epic in the '80s, between the quality of the teams themselves and, of course, the Bruce Pearl/Deon Thomas incident. It seems like that rivalry has lost some of its luster over the past two decades, though. What are your feelings on the Iowa-Illinois rivalry? Is this just another Big Ten game for you guys or does it have some extra juice?

I am from the Illinois side of the Quad Cities, across the Mississippi from Davenport, and only about 90 miles from Iowa City. It may not be as true for Illinois fans elsewhere in the state, but around here Illinois fans REALLY dislike Iowa, if for no other reason than close proximity, and Bruce Pearl certainly didn't help that. (By the way, you guys brought a coach with a five year show cause sanction to sign autographs at Carver Hawkeye? Really?)

That said, the Todd Lickliter years really made Iowa a lot harder to hate. A little too one sided.