Illinois Basketball: 5 games that could be crucial to the Illini season

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CHICAGO, IL – MARCH 14: Illinois Fighting Illini guard Da’Monte Williams (20) celebrates during a Big Ten Tournament game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Iowa Hawkeyes on March 14, 2019, at the United Center in Chicago, IL. (Photo by Patrick Gorski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

1. Illinois vs. Miami (FL)

The first game that will determine whether or not the Illinois basketball team is going to be in the running for an NCAA tournament berth this season is the ACC-Big Ten Challenge against Miami (FL).

I realize we have a tough matchup with Arizona before this game but, just looking at the schedule, we should be somewhere in the ballpark of 5-1 going into the game against Miami, at worst. The game against Miami would be big for multiple reasons.

The first reason it would be big is the fact it’s the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Illinois used to be a great matchup for this early season tournament but, as of late, things have gone wayward. The Illini have dropped five out of their last seven in this challenge with their only two wins come in the first and last years of the John Groce era. We need to start winning these games.

This part of the season always seems to be where Illinois hits a rough patch as well. Most of the time, the start of the season goes well, but once the ACC-Big Ten Challenge hits, the program starts to lose a lot more. Winning this game against a below-average Miami team would help boost confidence and it would keep the Illini on the right track. A 6-1 record would look a lot better than a 5-2 record.

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