Wisconsin point guard Nick Boyd is living rent-free in Illinois' coach Brad Underwood's head right now. Illinois was selected to be a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament to play against No. 14 Penn in the South region. Yet, one of the very first things out of his mouth was about Nick Boyd and Wisconsin.
He was only three minutes into his press conference about the Illini's NCAA Tournament selection when he said, "We don't see Nick Boyd, which is probably a good thing." Laughed and moved into the rest of the interview. Wisconsin fans have to love that.
Underwood: “We don’t see Nick Boyd, which is probably a good thing.” pic.twitter.com/K6e1UNaz9s
— Glenn Kinley (@glenn_kinley) March 15, 2026
Brad Underwood should be thinking about No. 14 Penn but he's still got Nick Boyd on the brain
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There's a major reason that Underwood still has Boyd on the brain. Boyd scored 38 points against his Illini and willed the Badgers to victory, eliminating Illinois from the Big Ten Tournament. There's a sour taste in his mouth and seemed eager in the press conference to not have to play Big Ten opponents anytime soon.
There's a strong probability that he will never have to see Nick Boyd again. This is Boyd's last year in the tournament and Wisconsin and Illinois are on opposite sides of the bracket. It would take a Wisconsin vs. Illinois national championship for Underwood to have to see Boyd again.
Boyd was the best player against Illinois in both games in which Wisconsin beat the Illini this season. Boyd didn't have 38 points the first time, but he did have 25, and Boyd was the top scorer for the Badgers in that game.
While all the teams are looking ahead to their opponent and Underwood is working that way, he's having a hard time getting through what Boyd and Wisconsin did to him twice this season.