NCAA Tournament March Madness

#84 Illinois St

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Projection: likely out

Illinois State’s resume reads like a mid-major profile with flashes of quality but too many damaging setbacks, which is why it sits outside comfortable tournament consideration. The team’s best moments came away from home with wins at Long Beach State and Murray State and neutral victories over Charlotte and Furman, and it also beat Northern Iowa at home, but those positives are offset by ugly losses at Ohio, the neutral-site blowout at USC, a home loss to Illinois Chicago and road defeats at Belmont and Valparaiso that a committee will view as harmful. The nonconference slate included a close neutral loss to Utah State that could have given the profile a signature win but didn’t, and conference play has been uneven on the road. The remaining schedule offers a handful of chances to repair damage with home dates against S Illinois, Drake, Belmont and Murray State and a tough road trip to Northern Iowa, yet most of those opponents are the same middle-tier names that won’t move the needle much unless Illinois State strings together upset wins away from home, so the current standing is understandable.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/6@Ohio235L72-68
11/9Cornell180W76-65
11/14(N)USC47L87-67
11/16@Long Beach St236W82-80
11/23Coastal Car234W94-42
11/27(N)Charlotte172W79-69
11/28(N)Furman166W72-65
12/3E Kentucky262W89-78
12/6Chicago St358W95-53
12/13(N)Utah St30L83-78
12/18@S Illinois124W75-68
12/21Indiana St201W85-65
12/29@Drake160W73-56
1/1Evansville283W73-47
1/7@Valparaiso154L77-71
1/10IL Chicago136L63-59
1/14@Indiana St201L94-89
1/17Bradley144W88-62
1/21Northern Iowa112W59-54
1/24@Belmont67L80-69
1/28@Murray St90W70-65
2/3S Illinois12474%
2/6Drake16081%
2/9@Evansville28383%
2/12Valparaiso15480%
2/15@IL Chicago13656%
2/18Murray St9064%
2/21@Bradley14459%
2/25@Northern Iowa11249%
3/1Belmont6754%