NCAA Tournament March Madness

#115 Illinois St

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Projection: likely out

Illinois State’s résumé balances a handful of solid neutral-site victories and a road win against lesser competition with a couple of damaging blemishes, which explains its current standing. Neutral wins over Charlotte and Furman and a road victory at Long Beach State show the team can win away from home, while dominant results against Coastal Carolina and a steady victory over Cornell fill out the win column. By contrast a road setback at Ohio and a lopsided neutral loss to USC are the kind of bad losses selection committees remember and there are too few wins against high-quality opponents to erase those marks. The remaining slate offers clear chances to change the narrative with a neutral test at Utah State and tough road trips to Belmont, Northern Iowa and Murray State, but until those games are decided the profile is defined by strong results versus lower-tier opponents, a pair of meaningful neutral wins and a couple of harmful losses away from home.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/6@Ohio213L72-68
11/9Cornell163W76-65
11/14(N)USC28L87-67
11/16@Long Beach St270W82-80
11/23Coastal Car242W94-42
11/27(N)Charlotte193W79-69
11/28(N)Furman156W72-65
12/3E Kentucky268W89-78
12/6Chicago St35697%
12/13(N)Utah St4325%
12/18@S Illinois13445%
12/21Indiana St20181%
12/29@Drake12242%
1/1Evansville29491%
1/7@Valparaiso19661%
1/10IL Chicago19980%
1/14@Indiana St20162%
1/17Bradley12866%
1/21Northern Iowa9154%
1/25@Belmont8530%
1/28@Murray St11338%
2/3S Illinois13467%
2/6Drake12265%
2/9@Evansville29477%
2/12Valparaiso19680%
2/15@IL Chicago19961%
2/18Murray St11360%
2/21@Bradley12844%
2/25@Northern Iowa9132%
3/1Belmont8552%