I was looking at the map earlier today and struck by just how far south Illinois goes. Almost to Arkansas.
Many years ago, a team from Southern Illinois came to Troy during the early Spring. I think they stayed a week in the visiting team quarters. Probably played a game a day while they were there.
May have been Eastern Illinois State or something like that. I got to talking to them a few times and they were good kids, mostly rural. Pretty good ball players too. I was impressed with them.
Driving Illinois, north to south, or vice versa, was probably the most boring drive I ever made. I only went as far U of Ill in Champaign/Urbana, and that was enough to deter me from ever wanting to do it again.
Cairo, IL, at the southern tip of Illinois, is only about 35 miles from Tennessee.