Illinois Basketball: Next seven games will set the tone for the Illini season

The Illinois basketball team sits at 8-4 after what most would call a disappointing loss to the Missouri Tigers.

8-4 isn’t a terrible record, all things considered. But the fact we should have a better record is kind of disappointing. The lack of effort against Missouri, the lack of closing against Maryland and the lack of starting well against Miami were all the dooms we have dealt with this season. Even with that said, the immediate future is going to determine how the season goes for the Illini.

The next game is against North Carolina A&T. I am not sure what the A&T stands for – maybe abysmal and terrible – but this program is 3-10 this season. Their only wins coming against Charleston Southern, Nicholls State and Longwood. There is no reason we can’t move forward with an easy win here.

Beating UNCA&T would give us a record of 8-3 in the non-conference. We would then be entering the full Big Ten slate with a 1-1 conference record. Overall, 9-4 is, most likely, a bubble record considering we have a win over a top-five Michigan program.

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Now I am looking at the first six regular Big Ten games. We only play one ranked team in this stretch and that is the first game against No. 14 Michigan State on the road. The Spartans are a good team, but Illinois has beaten better this season. Michigan State is also injured, so this would be a perfect time to take advantage of that fact.

After this seven-game stretch, Illinois then has another seven-game stretch where we play five ranked opponents. That is why I am stressing that this team must get off to a good Big Ten start. What is the goal coming out of this seven-game stretch, though?

None of these games are easy after finishing the non-conference considering it is the Big Ten, but I want to see, at worst, a 5-2 record coming out of this seven-game stretch. I would say we beat UNCA&T easily. We might drop the second game on the road against Michigan State. The following four games – Purdue, at Wisconsin, Rutgers, Northwestern – I could see all of these being wins. The end of the seven-game stretch is on the road against Purdue. Let’s say we drop that game.

This would bring the Illinois record to 13-6 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten. We would have a signature win over a top-five Michigan team, like previously mentioned. This would put us on pace for a 20-win campaign and somewhere between a 6-10 seed in the NCAA tournament.

This team might have had a disappointing loss to Missouri last Saturday, but that doesn’t mean the season is over. I want to see the team do well, and the next seven games will determine if we are dancing or not come March.