Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes

5. Fight for the double-bye is on

Illinois is not technically out of contention to win the big ten regular season, but it is an extremely long shot at this point. I think it is officially time to worry about the double-bye, though.

After the loss to Iowa, Illinois has now dropped out of the top four teams in the Big Ten. The Illini currently sit at No. 5 but have the same exact record as Iowa, Indiana, and Maryland, who are all ahead of Illinois due to the record against all tied teams.

When looking at the tied teams, Illinois is 0-3 against those programs. That makes the climb to the double-bye that much harder.

With that being said, there are plenty of games left for Illinois to sneak into the top four and earn the coveted double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament.

This week is going to be crucial. We have two home games, one against Minnesota on Tuesday and the other is against Rutgers on Saturday. The Gophers should be a win, and the Scarlet Knights are the No. 2 team in the conference. A win over them would help move us up, but I don’t think it would get us the double-bye just yet.

The following two games are going to be so tough. Illinois travels to Penn State on February 14 and then to Indiana on February 18. I am excited to play the Hoosiers again. I want to see what a healthy Matthew Mayer can do against them.

I think the next four games will determine the double-bye in the Big Ten. At worst, Illinois can go 3-1 in these games. This would get us to 19-8 overall and 10-6 in the conference. This would put us in a good position for the double-bye.