Illinois Basketball: Illini mentioned in latest NCAA tournament bracketology

What if I told you the Illinois basketball team is on the verge of making the NCAA tournament?

Well, that is a possibility if we continue to play solid basketball like we did the other night against Purdue. After that dismantling of the Boilermakers, the Illini now sit with a record of 10-5 overall and a Big Ten record of 2-2. That is not too shabby.

Illinois has won four out of their last six, and the Purdue victory curbed the Illini fans who were on the ledge after the beatdown we took against Michigan State. The campaign Illinois is putting together right now has some of the national media looking at us too.

On Monday, Mike DeCourcy of the Big Ten Network put out his version of bracketology. The Big Ten had nine teams in the Big Dance according to DeCourcy’s predictions. One team that wasn’t in the mix was Illinois. But, unlike some of his colleagues at other news stations, DeCourcy did have Illinois in the first four out section. That means they are on the bubble. This is definitely a step in the right direction.

Now that we are halfway through the season and squarely on the bubble, what would it take for the Orange and Blue to go dancing once again?

Back on Christmas Eve, Illinois was fresh off a bad loss to Missouri and I typed an article saying the next seven games will set the tone for the rest of the season. I still believe that, and it seems like it is true. I had Illinois coming out of the seven-game stretch – UNC A&T, MSU, Purdue, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Northwestern and Purdue – with at least a 5-2 record. That was the benchmark.

Let’s say that happens. Illinois wins the next three and then drops the game to Purdue on the road, or you can say they drop some other game and beat Purdue. Whatever the scenario, they come away with a 5-2 record in the seven-game stretch. That would put the Illini at 13-6 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten. I would imagine we are sitting inside the bubble at that point.

Would you say 18 wins is on the bubble outside of the tournament, 19 wins is on the bubble inside the tournament and 20 wins is safe? That is how I would predict things at this point. So, how do we get to at least 19 wins? We need to find six wins in the final 12 games, so a .500 record.

We have Minnesota at home, that should be a win (1). Nebraska at home, that should be a win (2). Northwestern on the road, that should be a win (3). Indiana at home, that should be a win (4). Iowa at home, that should be a win (5). So, we are sitting at 18 wins after these games.

Illinois would then need to find one more win to reach 19 or two more wins to reach 20 from the following; at No. 19 Michigan, at Iowa, home No. 12 Maryland, home No. 8 Michigan State, at Rutgers, at No. 20 Penn State and at No. 11 Ohio State.

This sounds like a daunting task, but we were close to knocking off Maryland on the road. We have had some success with Michigan State in Champaign. Rutgers is better this year, but I am not sure how good they really are. Iowa isn’t great but they are always flirting with the top 25. We have already beaten Michigan once. Penn State thrives off their big men, so we might be able to match up well there. And Ohio State is hot and cold at times.

Honestly, I believe we can win the winnable games that I mentioned and then find two more wins out of the other tough games. Getting to 20 wins should be the goal. This would make us an NCAA tournament team. I am ready.