The Illinois basketball program is entering the final game of the 2025-26 season.
This has been a great run for the Illini thus far, and the hope is that the run won’t end anytime soon. With the way the NCAA tournament projections are laid out, I love our chances to go pretty deep into March.
On Saturday night, Joe Lunardi of ESPN updated his latest bracketology predictions. Illinois didn’t play, so we got to watch as teams won or lost throughout the day.
After most of the dust had settled, Illinois emerged in the same spot we were entering the weekend. We are a No. 2 seed. The only change is that we are playing No. 15 seed Illinois-Chicago. Don’t get that confused with Loyola-Chicago. These are the UIC Flames.
If Illinois manages to avoid a massive upset in the first round, I love our path to at least the Elite 8.
A second round matchup against, most likely, No. 7 BYU and superstar AJ Dybansta awaits. They are a one-man show, so I think Illinois can throw too much at them. The Sweet 16 is a toss-up on who is going to play the Illini. It is between No. 3 Gonzaga, No. 6 Kentucky, and No. 11 Miami (OH). Both Gonzaga and Kentucky have struggled this season, and Miami (OH) is undefeated.
I have extreme confidence that Illinois can take out any of those teams. That would set up another Elite 8 appearance with the one and only, Arizona. If we can get past the Wildcats, Illinois would then have a rematch against No. 1 Michigan. The familiarity is there, so that boosts my confidence in being able to be them.
Honestly, with the way Lunardi has this NCAA tournament projection laid out, it would not shock me to see Illinois make a run to the national championship game.
Illinois basketball has to do some winning in the Big Ten Tournament to keep the No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament
While the NCAA tournament projection is fun to look at right now, it could all change for the Illini with the Big Ten Tournament this week.
Illinois has to take care of business against Oregon on Sunday. We then enter the Big Ten Tournament as a top-four seed. My hope is that we are a No. 3 seed or better.
Winning the first game is paramount. That will keep us at the No. 2 seed line in the NCAA tournament. Advancing to the Big Ten Tournament title game would strengthen our No. 2 seed for the Big Dance.
The big question then would remain: if Illinois wins the Big Ten Tournament, could we sneak into a No. 1 seed? I would love to see that scenario play out and see what the selection committee would do with the Orange and Blue.