Illinois Basketball: Illini lock-in bye in Big Ten Tournament, first time since 2015

The women’s Illinois basketball team couldn’t put No. 8 Maryland away on Sunday.

This wasn’t a terrible loss for the Illini by any means. We had a nine-point halftime lead. But the Terrapins would end up wielding their talent in the second half. Despite a strong final 20 minutes, Illinois kept a game on the road against a top-10 team to 11 points by the final buzzer. We would end up falling to the Terrapins, 82-71.

Coming into the game, the Illini had knocked off two bottom dwellers of the Big Ten in Minnesota and Nebraska. We are beating the teams we should beat, which is a step in the right direction. But I would argue, this is the best the Big Ten has been in years.

Where does the women’s Illinois basketball team stand in the latest bracketology for the NCAA tournament?

In the latest bracket published by Charlie Creme of ESPN, Illinois is squarely on the No. 9 seed line. This prediction was placed on February 10, so it was after our win over Nebraska.

I would imagine that a loss on the road to No. 8 Maryland isn’t going to hurt our standing too much. When the update comes, I think Illinois should still be in the eight-nine game in the NCAA tournament.

At 19-7 overall and 9-6 in the Big Ten, I believe the double-bye is about out of question. Illinois isn’t technically eliminated yet, but the teams ahead of us have the head-to-head win tie-breaker, so that makes things more difficult.

Realistically, the Illini are going to be playing on Thursday to open the Big Ten Tournament. This is a massive upgrade from years past when Wednesday was usually our starting day due to us being in the bottom four of the conference.

In fact, not only is Illinois locked into a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament, but this will be the first time since 2015 that the Illini haven’t played either on Tuesday or Wednesday. I believe this is only the beginning of a special run for the Illini.

Illinois has a chance to finish the season on a high note and head into the conference tournament playing well.

The final three games of the regular season are against Penn State and Nebraska at home and on the road against Rutgers. We have already beaten both the Cornhuskers and Scarlet Knights, but this will be the first matchup against the Nittany Lions. Penn State is currently fighting to stay out of the bottom four.

At this point, if Illinois finishes with three wins, we should be comfortably inside the bubble and will be playing our first NCAA tournament in years. But we can’t sleepwalk. Let’s finish this great season strong.