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Illinois Basketball: Illini in danger of missing the NCAA tournament?

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - FEBRUARY 07: Illinois Fighting Illini forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili (15) pumps up the crowd during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Maryland Terrapins and the Illinois Fighting Illini on February 7, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - FEBRUARY 07: Illinois Fighting Illini forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili (15) pumps up the crowd during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Maryland Terrapins and the Illinois Fighting Illini on February 7, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The loss against Michigan State on Tuesday night really put Illinois basketball fans in a funk.

Honestly, it was the loss mixed in with Ayo Dosunmu’s leg giving out on him on the last play of the game. Every Illini fan has Ayo in their thoughts today. Regardless of what I type next, Ayo’s healthy is the most important thing.

But let’s focus on the basketball aspect of everything. One question that I saw pop on up on my Twitter feed was; are we even going to make the NCAA tournament?

At first, I thought this was a crazy question. But, after a few minutes, I got to thinking that it could be a possibility. Do I think it will happen? I don’t know, but I will take you through my mindset as I breakdown the Illinois schedule the rest of the way out.

Let me first note, these wins and losses are predicated on Ayo being healthy for every one of these games.

Illinois is currently 16-8 overall and 8-5 in the Big Ten. We are now sitting No. 5 in the conference after the loss to Michigan State, which means we only get one bye in the Big Ten Tournament instead of the double-bye.

The Illini hit the road to take on Rutgers this Saturday. The Scarlet Knights are tied with us in the Big Ten but we have the tiebreaker because we beat them the first time around. I think this is a great matchup for us considering Kofi Cockburn pulled down 17 rebounds in game one. I see us winning this game.

Illinois then takes on No. 13 Penn State on the road. I think this is a bad matchup for the Orange and Blue. The Nittany Lions have some big athletic players. I see Illinois potentially dropping this game. So, this would put us at 17-9 overall and 9-6 in the Big Ten.

Nebraska is the next matchup for the Illini and they come to Champaign. The Cornhuskers aren’t very good, so this should be a solid win for Illinois. This victory would move us to 18-9 overall and 10-6 in the Big Ten.

The next game would be on the road against Northwestern. The Wildcats aren’t very good and we were able to beat them when they were playing their best. I could see this being another win for the Illini, which would move our record to 19-9 overall and 11-6 in the Big Ten.

Indiana comes to Champaign for the next game. The Hoosiers are struggling, especially on the road. That should be a win for the Orange and Blue. We then go on the road to Ohio State. Since it is a road game and the Buckeyes have some talent, I would give this one to Ohio State. The final game would be against No. 21 Iowa at home. We competed against the Hawkeyes on the road, so this should be a win for the Illini at home.

Next. 3 observations from the Illini falling to Michigan State. dark

With the schedule shaking out as described above, that would put Illinois at 21-10 overall and 13-7 in the Big Ten. Hitting the 21-win mark is easily good enough to go dancing in March. Finishing like this would also get us the double-bye I am looking for as well.  Don’t count out the Illini just yet.

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