Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over Northwestern

5. What a big win for Illinois

I am not going to lie here, that first half really had me down. With so much on the line, Illinois came out and absolutely looked disengaged from the jump.

Down 18 points going into halftime, I was disappointed with the Illini. The chance to stay in contention for the double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament was at stake. NCAA tournament seeding would be affected by a win or a loss on Thursday night as well. There was so much to play for, but we came out and looked like garbage.

That second half was magical, though. Illinois went from looking like a team that could lose to any program in the nation to a team that could make it deep in March. It was an insane roller coaster of emotions.

No matter how we got there, one thing is for certain. This was a big win for the Orange and Blue.

With the win over Northwestern, Illinois remains in a tie for a spot in the top four. We are now tied for third in the Big Ten, though. So, things are getting even better for the Illini.

As it stands right now, Maryland, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois are all tied for the third in the Big Ten. The tiebreaker is all of the tied teams’ records against each other. So, Indiana and Maryland would be in the No. 3 and No. 4 spots, respectively, right now. Michigan would be in spot No. 5 and Illinois would have spot No. 6. I believe this is correct right now.

The win over the Wildcats puts Illinois right there for the double-bye, though. We just have to keep winning. I believe the win over Northwestern, who was ranked, is going to give us a boost in the NCAA tournament. I am excited to see how close we are to being ranked in the top 25 when that is released on Monday. This little winning streak really has morale high moving forward.