Illinois Basketball: 4 observations from the Illini win over Penn State

4. Good start to an “easy” stretch

After the loss to No. 19 Rutgers on the road, I typed a slide in an article that said the next six games were going to get Illinois back on track.

Illinois has now played four ranked opponents this season and are 1-3 against those teams. That isn’t a good record against the top-tier talent in the country. Going 1-3 versus ranked teams also dropped Illinois’ record to 5-3 on the year, which doesn’t look good.

But we have entered a six-game stretch of unranked teams, half of which are at the State Farm Center. Illinois already beat one of the six teams in Penn State on Wednesday night. This was a road win as well. So, now the Illini only have two more road games in the next five contests against unranked opponents.

I believe there is no reason why Illinois shouldn’t be on a six-game winning streak heading into the matchup on January 16 versus No. 23 Ohio State. This would put our record at 11-3 overall and 7-1 in the Big Ten. That is what I want to see out of this Illini bunch.

Expectations are raised this season. Last year, Illinois finished strong and was one of the best teams in the Big Ten. This year we were a top 10 team and projected to be one of the programs in the running to win it all.

Let’s continue winning these unranked conference games. After this six-game stretch, we then have five ranked games out of the next seven contests. Staying on the right track is important. The Penn State victory on Wednesday night was a good start.