IU looks to protect 1976 undefeated season

Four wins.\nMarch 28, 1987. Dec. 4, 1993. Jan. 7, 2001. March 21, 2002. \nFour dates etched in IU's history.\nThe games played on these days had one thing in common -- the Hoosiers knocked the nation's No. 1 team off its pedestal.\nWill Feb. 6, 2005 be next?\nThe other 11 times IU has faced the top team in the nation, they left without a win, but no one remembers those. \nWhen IU travels to Champaign-Urbana this Super Bowl Sunday for its 16th meeting with college basketball's No. 1 team, the Hoosiers will be looking for an unexpected fifth win.\n"I think everybody's excited," senior guard Ryan Tapak said. "In your four-year career, the chances of playing the No. 1 team are very slim. Them being No. 1 is not that big of a deal, just because it's Illinois. It's a conference game, so that kind of changes things up. But if we could go in there and end their streak, it would really help us as a team move forward but also help our tournament chances."\nBut IU might be trying to protect the 1976 Hoosiers' undefeated record against the most recent team threatening the program's prestige without its top player.\nJunior guard Bracey Wright is listed as doubtful for Sunday's game as of Thursday evening after suffering a sprained ankle in the Hoosiers' win over Penn State Wednesday. \n"Hopefully he can be like Terrell Owens or something and come back on Super Bowl Sunday," Tapak said.\nThe last time IU and Illinois met, the Hoosiers bowed out of the Big Ten Tournament with a 71-59 loss in March.\nBut this time could be different, junior guard Marshall Strickland said. \n"We will step up," he said. "I guarantee my guys will be ready to roll come Sunday. I think it's going to be an exciting game."\nTelevised in front of a national audience at 1 p.m. on CBS, the country doesn't believe IU -- like the rest of Illinois' opponents -- has a chance to unseat the top team. \nBut whether or not Wright plays, the Hoosiers' experience playing a tough schedule will benefit them, IU coach Mike Davis said.\n"When you look at our schedule of all the opponents that we've played this year that's been in the top 10, it's a lot," he said. "It's a great opportunity for us. Great opportunity to go and play the No. 1 team in the country. No one has beaten them, so if we don't beat them there's no surprise to anyone in this room."\nFeaturing a starting line all averaging in double figures, led by Luther Head's 16.9 points per game, Illinois' backcourt of Head, Deron Williams and Dee Brown hand out more than four assists per game, with 4.2 apg, 7 apg and 5.1 apg, respectively.\nThat trio along with the other two starters James Augustine, 10 ppg, and Roger Powell Jr. 12.7 ppg, gives Davis something to worry about.\n"What concerns me most about Illinois?" David asked Wednesday. "Dee Brown, Luther Head, Deron Williams, Augustine, Powell. They are the best team in the country, because, they play team basketball."\nWith the three guards as the heart of the Illini and the key to their success, Tapak said they are also the key to an IU win.\n"If we can contain those three guards and make someone else beat us, then I think we have a chance," he said.\nTrying to protect a 29-year-old record without the 18.6 points of Wright causes concern for some IU fans. That 1976 IU team crushed Illinois in Champaign-Urbana 83-55 on their way to a 32-0 record and a national championship. At 22-0 and with eight games left this season, along with three Big Ten tournament wins and six in the NCAA tournament, Illinois would be 39-0 and secure the best record in college basketball history. But Strickland thinks IU will give Illinois a run for its money.\n"We'll be less predictable, without a doubt, without Bracey on the floor," he said. "We'll have guys coming off screens, guys slipping screens. We'll have more options. I think guys will step up and make plays."\nIU needs those plays, so they can add Feb. 6, 2005 to that list.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Josh Weinfuss at jweinfus@indiana.edu.