The women’s Illinois basketball team is back dancing once again in the NCAA tournament.
Just hours after the Illini men’s team got in the NCAA tournament as a No. 3 seed, the Illinois women’s program followed suit and will be trying to cause chaos in the NCAA tournament.
In the bracket reveal on ESPN, the shocker of the NCAA tournament seeding dropped. Illinois isn’t in that No. 8 vs No. 9 line. We jumped up to the No. 7 seed. Illinois will be heading to Nashville, Tennessee, to take on No. 10 Colorado.
What is crazy for the Orange and Blue is that this will be the third NCAA tournament appearance in the last four seasons. Shauna Green has changed the fortunes of this program, and we continue to rise. Before Green, Illinois had made the NCAA tournament two times since the turn of the century.
Another awesome aspect of Illinois snagging the No. 7 seed is that this is the highest seed for the Illini in the NCAA tournament in the Green era. We were a No. 8 seed last season.
Illinois hasn’t had a top-seven seed in the NCAA tournament since the 2000 NCAA tournament. That was 27 seasons ago.
Thankfully, the Illinois basketball team avoided the No. 1 seed, and I like our chances against the No. 2 seed
The path for Illinois in the NCAA tournament isn’t that daunting. I truly believe the Illini could be playing in the second weekend for the first time in decades.
Colorado is a very beatable team. They aren’t great offensively, and they have no notable wins this season. Illinois can take them out in the first round if we are just hitting shots.
The Round of 32 against No. 2 Vanderbilt is where things could get sticky. The Commodores are good. They took down LSU, Michigan, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas, and Alabama this season. That is a tough resume.
Don’t sleep on Illinois, though. We have beaten some great teams, and we are constantly competitive. I am looking forward to not only getting past the first round but also giving a scare to one of the best teams in the country. Let the games begin.