Illinois got a rude reminder Sunday night that life outside the NCAA tournament is nothing like life in it.
The Illini missed the NCAAs for the second time in three seasons and, even with a top seed in the NIT, they won't be able to open the consolation tournament at home.
Assembly Hall in Champaign is booked Wednesday night for a performance by Cirque du Soleil. The Illini (19-14) will begin the NIT on Wednesday night at America East Conference regular-season champion Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, N.Y.
Disappointed didn't quite capture the feeling for Illini players and coach Bruce Weber.
``I think it would be an understatement to say it's been a tough day,'' Weber said. ``I don't think we have anyone to blame except ourselves, when it comes down to it.''
Weber declined to criticize the NCAA tournament selection committee, but said he thinks Illinois is one of the 40 or so best teams in the country. And, while calling for expansion of the NCAA tournament to 96 teams, he said his team shouldn't be penalized for all those late-season losses because four were to ranked teams.
``No one had a tougher finish to the season,'' he said.
The Illini are just five seasons removed from a trip to the NCAA final - in Weber's first season - where they lost to North Carolina. They've been to the NCAAs eight times in the past 10 seasons.
On Wednesday, Illinois will face Stony Brook (22-9) in an arena on Long Island that seats about 1,700 people.
Neither Weber nor his players knew much about the Seawolves. And none of them sounded sure the Illini would be able to shake Sunday night's blues.
``We'll see,'' forward Bill Cole said. ``The guys were extremely disappointed in the locker room. It'll be tough to get out of the mindset of disappointment.''
Illinois' last trip to the NIT was in 1996, Lou Henson's last season as coach, and it ended with a first-round loss to Alabama.
