Illinois Basketball: Second season for the Illini starts against Iowa

The first 16 games for the Illinois basketball program have gone just okay, as they sit with a record of 10-5 overall and are 6-3 in the Big Ten.

Illinois’ last win came against Penn State almost two weeks ago. There would have been a game last Saturday, but Michigan State’s program had COVID-19. So, the Illini are coming into the matchup against No. 7 Iowa completely cold.

Needing to finish the season strong, the Illini must look at the final nine games of the 2020-21 campaign as a separate season. While a 10-5 record matters right now, if we tank the final nine games, it won’t end up mattering.

Out of the final nine games, six of the contests are against top 25 programs and five of those games are against teams in the top 15. Needless to say, it won’t be an easy road.

What should we expect from the second season?

Let’s break the second season down into three sections. The first section is home vs No. 7 Iowa, road against Indiana and home against No. 14 Wisconsin.

Friday night’s game against the Hawkeyes will be one of the toughest matchups this season. Let’s say we drop the game against Iowa. Beating Indiana on the road is a task that can be managed. Illinois won on the road against a tough Wisconsin team last season, so I think they can do it again this year at home.

Section one record 2-1.

The next section features a game on the road against No. 4 Michigan, home against Northwestern and on the road against No. 21 Minnesota.

It is going to be tough to go up to Michigan and take down the Wolverines. Let’s say the Illini drop this game. We come back home and beat Northwestern and then take down Minnesota on the road. We did beat the Gophers by 27 earlier this year.

Section two record 2-1.

The final stretch of games would then be home against Nebraska, on the road against No. 14 Wisconsin and on the road against No. 13 Ohio State.

Nebraska should give Illinois their third-straight win. Let’s say we split games with Wisconsin this season, and they take us down at the Kohl Center. The final game is at Ohio State. They beat us earlier this year, but the Buckeyes shot a silly 52.4-percent from three-point range in that game. I will give this one to the Illini.

Section three record 2-1.

I believe Illinois going 2-1 in each of the three sections the rest of the way out should put us in a good position come tournament time. If we could accomplish this goal, the overall record would be 16-8 and the Big Ten record would be 12-6.

If Illinois can finish 12-6 in the Big Ten, then I think that gives them a top-four seed in the Big Ten Tournament and the coveted double-bye. We would also be squarely in the NCAA tournament as a top-five seed. This is the baseline goal that I want the rest of the way out. Hopefully, we even win a few that I have projected as losses.