It all comes down to this... The Illinois Fighting Illini are one of four teams left playing for a national championship. While the Final Four kicks off in earnest later this weekend, there is a very strong possibility that Illinois could get back to its first national title bout since 2005. The latest betting odds have the Fighting Illini as a slight favorite over the UConn Huskies during the national semifinal game.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, here are the latest odds heading into the two Final Four games.
- No. 3 Illinois Fighting Illini (-2.5) vs. No. 2 UConn Huskies
- No. 1 Michigan Wolverines (-1.5) vs. No. 1 Arizona Wildcats
Based off that, here is what every potential national championship game matchup could look like, too.
- No. 3 Illinois Fighting Illini vs. No. 1 Arizona Wildcats (-4.5)
- No. 2 UConn Huskies vs. No. 1 Arizona Wildcats (-5.5)
- No. 3 Illinois Fighting Illini vs. No. 1 Michigan Wolverines (-5.5)
- No. 2 UConn Huskies vs. No. 1 Michigan Wolverines (-6.5)
As you can see, Illinois is seen as being a possession better than UConn. If that holds up, then the Illini would take on either the Arizona Wildcats or the Michigan Wolverines for the national championship. While Illinois would be seen as an underdog to both of them, they would much rather face Arizona over Michigan for a few reasons. Illinois is a point closer to U of A than to Michigan. There is also this...
Arizona appears to be on the verge of Tommy Lloyd potentially leaving Tucscon to head over to UNC.
Illinois is a sneaky-good dark horse to win this year's national title bout
Truth be told, Michigan would much rather face UConn over Illinois anyway. Not only are the betting odds more in their favor in a potential matchup with the Huskies, but facing a conference opponent again could serve as a double-edged sword for both parties. It could be an all-time classic, but emotions will be so incredibly high when the Wolverines and the Fighting Illini face each other again.
So follow along with this... While the emerging Tennessee Elite Eight curse works in Illinois' favor considerably, does Brad Underwood's team want to leave this up to fate vs. Michigan? That is a team that has lost a grand total of three times this year. Nobody wants to play Michigan, not even Illinois. If we want to remove Michigan from the equation, Arizona could be exhausted ahead of its Illini date.
In the event that it is Arizona vs. Illinois in this year's national championship, the chances of Arizona being more thoroughly gassed when compare to Illinois are likely. Illinois is the favorite over UConn, while Arizona may need to give its all to end Michigan's season. It is a clash of the titans on the other side of the bracket. That could work out in Illinois' favor more than you would think. What about Lloyd?
And that right there is the trickiest part in all of this. Lloyd has not exactly done the best job of saying no when it comes to the UNC vacancy. Billy Donovan is the other serious candidate for the Tar Heels' post, but the NBA season does not end for another 11 days. Donovan could resign and then take over immediately if he wants. UNC wants to see what Lloyd wants to do first. He could be distracted.
In the event a distracted Lloyd has to navigate Illinois, that puts Underwood into a tremendous spot.