Illinois basketball is going to play in the NCAA tournament for the first time in eight seasons.
I, like many fans, am excited to see the Illini back in the postseason. They are going to enter the NCAA tournament as one of the best teams in the nation and have a legit shot at winning the national title.
It will take six wins for the Orange and Blue to bring home the chip, though. Along their journey, I wouldn’t mind seeing Illinois play certain teams for reasons I am about to describe.
Here are five teams the Illini need to play in the 2021 NCAA tournament.
1. Missouri Tigers
The first team that I want Illinois to play in the upcoming NCAA tournament is the Missouri Tigers. For obvious reasons, I want the Illini to match up against the Tigers and send them home early.
Over the last few decades, Missouri has become one of Illinois’ biggest rivals thanks to the Braggin’ Rights game. But this rivalry goes much deeper than just one game.
For some reason, when Illinois wasn’t great at basketball, they were able to beat Missouri regularly. The Illini had won five-straight in the rivalry, but the Tigers have won the last three contests. The most recent defeat for the Orange and Blue came this season by three points.
On top of the three-game losing streak Illinois has against Missouri, I want to make sure certain players realize they made a mistake by not sticking with their Illinois commitment. Mark Smith spent a year with the Illini but then transferred. Jeremiah Tilmon and Javon Pickett were both committed to Illinois but backed out after the previous coaching regime was fired.
I want to face Missouri in the NCAA tournament to not only change the tides and start beating them again, but I want to make sure former Illini players and commits on that team get sent home as early as possible. This would make me happy as a fan.