CHAMPAIGN — Nothing but open road awaited Brad Dancer and Jared Hiltzik.
Dancer, the Illinois men’s tennis coach, and Hiltzik, one of his top players, had already spent six hours driving back from Minneapolis on Sunday after the Illini lost to Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament final.
But by the time the Illinois contingent made it near Madison, Wis., on Sunday night, talk started to center around the NCAA tournament. A mock bracket essentially unfolded from the mouths of Dancer and Hiltzik. For the rest of the ride home.
“Brad and Jared spent about three hours doing that,” said Aleks Vukic, the Illini’s No.