A sign of life: College basketball might be our best chance for a winter winner

While Chicago is riding an all-time low in professional sports success, is it fair to say we're in a new golden era of college basketball?

Illinois missed a chance to upset No. 1 Tennessee on Saturday, losing 66-64. It was an ugly game, but it may have provided hope for the Big Ten launching a team into the top 10.

In the past, local teams generally became championship contenders when great players from Chicago stayed close to home for college. That's not really the case right now, but the overall success has improved.

The Fighting Illini went to a regional final last year for the first time since Dee Brown and Deron Williams in 2005. After going most of human history without a trip to the NCAA Tournament, Northwestern has earned a bid and won in the first round two years in a row. DePaul is showing long-awaited signs of life, while Loyola is hanging on as an upper-tier mid-major.

Bradley appears to be the only downstate team that's any good, but we can't have everything.

Having watched these teams in person, here are some thoughts about what lies ahead. Let's face it, college hoops might be our best chance at a winner:

Clockwork orange

The first thing that's obvious about Illinois is 6-foot-6 guard Kasparas Jakucionis from Lithuania is likely an NBA lottery pick. He had a very NBA-style stat line against Tennessee, shooting 14 free throws on a day neither team shot well from the field.

Seven-foot-1 center Tomislav Ivisic from Croatia has a chance to play in the NBA, but also more room to grow, while 6-7 freshman Will Riley is talented but erratic right now.

With such a freshman-oriented lineup, veteran teams like Northwestern will probably get the best of Illinois at times. But the Illini also have no shortage of potential X-factors. Guard Kylan Boswell, a transfer from Arizona, does a lot of things well but struggles to put the ball in the hoop sometimes. He could have easily put the Illini over the top against NU last week.

Tre White, transfer from Louisville, scored 23 points against Wisconsin this week but hasn't been consistent. Ben Humrichous shot 41% from 3-point range for Evansville last year but has been ice cold lately.

There's plenty of room for improvement here, and the Illini just lost to the No. 1 team on a shot at the buzzer.

Evanston express

Northwestern is a rarity in this age of college hoops, a veteran squad without much turnover. Based on the overtime win over Illinois last week, Brooks Barnhizer and Nick Martinelli can be as good a tandem as there is in the Big Ten.

Now if Ty Berry can get back to the way he was playing last year before an injury ended his season, the Wildcats could have a nice trio of stars. Fairfield transfer Jalen Leach is also playing well, but NU doesn't have much depth beyond those four.

Don't be surprised if the Wildcats have more wild momentum swings and late comebacks, like they did in the first two Big Ten games.

Demon dogs

The first month with new coach Chris Holtmann has been impressive. There are pickup teams at LA Fitness with more familiarity than DePaul had coming into the year, with no one back who was associated with last season's squad, player or coach.

But the Blue Demons are playing hard and getting contributions from a variety of sources. They dominated the second half Saturday to beat an 8-1 Wichita State team by 19.

Mundelein native Conor Enright does a nice job of setting the tone for DePaul. He can get a little mistake-prone, but he runs the point, is a defensive pest and his motor never slows down.

Ramble on

I haven't seen Loyola yet in person, but the Ramblers are 8-0 and will play San Francisco on Sunday in Milwaukee. Leading scorer Des Watson is back for another year.

It's worth appreciating what the Ramblers have accomplished. There's nothing more difficult in college hoops than being a mid-major program and finding a way to rise above 120 similar schools to become a recognizable name. Just think of all the forgettable years Loyola had between Alfredrick Hughes and the 2018 Final Four.

The Ramblers missed a good opportunity to win the Atlantic-10 last year and doesn't want to go too long between tourney appearances. The A-10 home opener against VCU on Jan. 4 will be one to watch.