NCAA Tournament March Madness

#4 Illinois

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Projected seed: 2

Illinois deserves a high seed because its resume pairs an explosive offense with a string of quality victories and meaningful road success. The Illini have beaten respected opponents such as Texas Tech and Tennessee and have won in hostile environments at Ohio State, Iowa, Northwestern and even at Purdue, which gives the resume the kind of signature wins committees prize. The most damaging moments are the neutral-site losses to Alabama and Connecticut and the surprising home defeat to Nebraska, which exposed some defensive inconsistency, but those blemishes are offset by dominant wins over midmajor competition and a neutral blowout of Missouri. With clear chances to add marquee that-matter wins — a home showdown with Michigan, a trip to Michigan State, a rematch at Nebraska and a late swing to USC and UCLA — Illinois can reinforce the case that it belongs among the tournament’s highest seeds.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3Jackson St339W113-55
11/7FGCU228W113-70
11/11Texas Tech18W81-77
11/14Colgate204W84-65
11/19(N)Alabama17L90-86
11/22LIU Brooklyn219W98-58
11/24UTRGV174W87-73
11/28(N)Connecticut13L74-61
12/6(N)Tennessee21W75-62
12/9@Ohio St40W88-80
12/13Nebraska11L83-80
12/22(N)Missouri59W91-48
12/29Southern Univ263W90-55
1/3@Penn St125W73-65
1/8Rutgers155W81-55
1/11@Iowa23W75-69
1/14@Northwestern62W79-68
1/17Minnesota82W77-67
1/21Maryland122W89-70
1/24@Purdue9W88-82
1/29Washington4889%
2/1@Nebraska1145%
2/4Northwestern6292%
2/7@Michigan St740%
2/10Wisconsin4186%
2/15Indiana3183%
2/18@USC4774%
2/21@UCLA3969%
2/27Michigan250%
3/3Oregon9896%
3/8@Maryland12292%