2018-2019 Predictions Thread

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#176      
Curious if anyone remembers when Ken Pom predictions come out? I ask because he had us at 15-16, 5-13 in conference. Perhaps the best prediction of all posted in last year's thread. While I didn't like it at the time, it was a darned good prediction and so I wonder where we will end up in his preseason figures this year.
 
#177      
Getting pumped for the season and drinking the KOOL-AID, baby! :cool: Here is my slightly optimistic prediction as of today (assumed opponents are in italics):

W vs. Evansville
W vs. Georgetown (Gavitt Tipoff Games)
L vs. #3 Gonzaga (Lahaina, HI)
W vs. Iowa State (Lahaina, HI)
W vs. Xavier (Lahaina, HI)
W vs. Mississippi Valley State
L at Notre Dame (Big Ten/ACC Challenge)
L at Nebraska
W vs. Ohio State (Chicago, IL)
W vs. UNLV
W vs. East Tennessee State
W vs. Missouri (St. Louis, MO)
W vs. Florida Atlantic
L at Indiana
W at Northwestern
L vs. #19 Michigan
W vs. Minnesota
L at Iowa :confused:
L vs. Wisconsin
L vs. Maryland (New York, NY)
W at Minnesota
W vs. Nebraska
L vs. #10 Michigan State
W vs. Rutgers
L at Ohio State
L at Wisconsin
W vs. Penn State
L at #24 Purdue
W vs. Northwestern
W vs. Indiana
W at Penn State

That puts us at 19-12 (10-10) and playing well going into the BTT. I think the worst case scenario where I would still maintain optimism for next year/excitement (some very relevant recruiting situations not counting in this specific analysis) is 17-14 (8-10) IF we look like we are progressing and if we don't embarrass ourselves in the BTT again.
 
#178      
Thu, Nov 08___Evansville W
Tue, Nov 13___Georgetown W
Mon, Nov 19___Gonzaga W
Tue, Nov 20___Ariz or IowaState W
Wed, Nov 21___Auburn/Duke/SDSU/Xavier L
Sun, Nov 25___Mississippi Valley W
Tue, Nov 27___@Notre Dame W
Sun, Dec 02___@Nebraska W
Wed, Dec 05___Ohio State (Chicago, IL) W
Sat, Dec 08___UNLV W
Sat, Dec 15___EastTennesseeState W
Sat, Dec 22___Missouri W
Sat, Dec 29___Florida Atlantic W
Thu, Jan 03___@Indiana L
Sun, Jan 06___@Northwestern W
Thu, Jan 10___Michigan L
Wed, Jan 16___Minnesota W
Sun, Jan 20___@Iowa W
Wed, Jan 23___Wisconsin W
Sat, Jan 26___Maryland W
Wed, Jan 30___@Minnesota L
Sat, Feb 02___Nebraska W
Tue, Feb 05___Michigan State L
Sat, Feb 09___Rutgers W
Thu, Feb 14___@Ohio State L
Mon, Feb 18___@Wisconsin L
Sat, Feb 23___Penn State W
Wed, Feb 27___@Purdue L
Sun, Mar 03___Northwestern W
Thu, Mar 07___Indiana W
Sun, Mar 10___@Penn State L


I had to wait until my head was in the right place to do this. Being up at 5:00 am for my own teams basketball practices has worn me down to the proper point to do this.

22-9 and real hard to not go 31-0 :cool::cool:
 
#179      
I had to wait until my head was in the right place to do this. Being up at 5:00 am for my own teams basketball practices has worn me down to the proper point to do this.
I must admit I am a little surprised at this from you. You sure you didn't mean for this whole post to be at least a tint of orange?

I'd like to hear a bit of your rationale for this good of a record. Because you just projected us dancing.
 
#180      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
I mean, I'm all for surprising the crap out of everyone, but let's not forget about our aging alumni and fans...
:p
giphy.gif
 
#181      
Getting pumped for the season and drinking the KOOL-AID, baby! :cool: Here is my slightly optimistic prediction as of today (assumed opponents are in italics):

W vs. Evansville
W vs. Georgetown (Gavitt Tipoff Games)
L vs. #3 Gonzaga (Lahaina, HI)
W vs. Iowa State (Lahaina, HI)
W vs. Xavier (Lahaina, HI)
W vs. Mississippi Valley State
L at Notre Dame (Big Ten/ACC Challenge)
L at Nebraska
W vs. Ohio State (Chicago, IL)
W vs. UNLV
W vs. East Tennessee State
W vs. Missouri (St. Louis, MO)
W vs. Florida Atlantic
L at Indiana
W at Northwestern
L vs. #19 Michigan
W vs. Minnesota
L at Iowa :confused:
L vs. Wisconsin
L vs. Maryland (New York, NY)
W at Minnesota
W vs. Nebraska
L vs. #10 Michigan State
W vs. Rutgers
L at Ohio State
L at Wisconsin
W vs. Penn State
L at #24 Purdue
W vs. Northwestern
W vs. Indiana
W at Penn State

That puts us at 19-12 (10-10) and playing well going into the BTT. I think the worst case scenario where I would still maintain optimism for next year/excitement (some very relevant recruiting situations not counting in this specific analysis) is 17-14 (8-10) IF we look like we are progressing and if we don't embarrass ourselves in the BTT again.

If we have 17 regular season wins I'll be thrilled and consider this a huge success and a turning point for the program.
 
#182      
If we have 17 regular season wins I'll be thrilled and consider this a huge success and a turning point for the program.
A winning record is step one for this program right now. Not saying it's impossible for this year, but it'll be a tall task, and thats based heavily on how difficult our schedule will be.
 
#184      

foby

Bonnaroo Land
I have the Illini at 18-13. NCAA BB is all about guard play, and I believe that ours will be very good.

And you put that in Orange? I predict we win 18 by our 16th game. Now that is some Orange stuff.
 
#186      
I must admit I am a little surprised at this from you. You sure you didn't mean for this whole post to be at least a tint of orange?

I'd like to hear a bit of your rationale for this good of a record. Because you just projected us dancing.

Didn't go all orange cause I figured the last line would cover it.

Edit: I will say though, I have felt strangely confident about that Gonzaga game for some time now. I have no real reason for why, just that I do. In reality, if we can hit some 3s this year, I think we're better than last year.
 
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#187      
this is probably the most confused about what to expect from our illini. if we could win the games
we should have won last year, I count 3 or 4 more wins. we were 14-18 last year with 4 big ten wins.
our non-con schedule is significantly tougher, the big ten is somewhat weaker.... if we could just flip
that record. i'll drink the Kool-Aid and predict 19-15 and a bubble team.
 
#189      

BananaShampoo

Captain 'Paign
Phoenix, AZ
As for a prediction this year I'm going to go with:

17-14 regular season
1-1 B1G tourney
Sweet 16 in the NIT
Ayo stays, Higgs leaves, people are excited about next season and expecting a tourney team as we don't have as much attrition and the guys were really starting to gel the second half of the season.
 
#190      
I was looking at last year's prediction thread and came across this [banned] guy's prediction.
Pretty incredible prediction considering this was pre-season.

Depressingly accurate, LOL. Also, here is our schedule with the SI rankings added for fun:

vs. #170 Evansville
vs. #93 Georgetown (Gavitt Tipoff Games)
vs. #4 Gonzaga (Maui)
vs. #43 Iowa State/#49 Arizona (Maui)
vs. #3 Duke/#11 Auburn/#52 Xavier/#66 San Diego State (Maui)
vs. #346 Mississippi Valley State
at #34 Notre Dame (Big Ten/ACC Challenge)
at #27 Nebraska
vs. #51 Ohio State (Chicago, IL)
vs. #146 UNLV
vs. #123 East Tennessee State
vs. #57 Missouri (St. Louis, MO)
vs. #230 Florida Atlantic
at #33 Indiana
at #74 Northwestern
vs. #18 Michigan
vs. #39 Minnesota
at #63 Iowa
vs. #29 Wisconsin
vs. #36 Maryland (New York, NY)
at #39 Minnesota
vs. #27 Nebraska
vs. #10 Michigan State
vs. #160 Rutgers
at #51 Ohio State
at #29 Wisconsin
vs. #59 Penn State
at #20 Purdue
vs. #74 Northwestern
vs. #33 Indiana
at #59 Penn State

We are ranked #98, so if we go by rankings alone ... we would be expected to win 6 games with a good chance vs. Georgetown. Let's exceed those expectations. :p
 
#191      

CAIllini

West Coast
We are ranked #98, so if we go by rankings alone ... we would be expected to win 6 games with a good chance vs. Georgetown. Let's exceed those expectations. :p

Sadly I'm bracing myself for something in that 10 win type of worst-season-in-history like scenario...hopefully that's just the beaten down Illini-fan in me talkin ;)
 
#192      
Sadly I'm bracing myself for something in that 10 win type of worst-season-in-history like scenario...hopefully that's just the beaten down Illini-fan in me talkin ;)
We went 1-10 in the 06-07 season. I should mention thats 1906 and 1907. I would bet a lot of money we win more than 1 game ;)
 
#196      
Thu, Nov 08___Evansville W
Tue, Nov 13___Georgetown L
Mon, Nov 19___Gonzaga (Maui Invitational) L
Tue, Nov 20___Arizona or Iowa State (Maui Invitational) L
Wed, Nov 21___Auburn/Duke/SDSU/Xavier (Maui Invitational) W
Sun, Nov 25___Mississippi Valley State W
Tue, Nov 27___@Notre Dame L
Sun, Dec 02___@Nebraska L
Wed, Dec 05___Ohio State (Chicago, IL) L
Sat, Dec 08___UNLV L
Sat, Dec 15___East Tennessee State W
Sat, Dec 22___Missouri (St. Louis, MO) L
Sat, Dec 29___Florida Atlantic W
Thu, Jan 03___@Indiana L
Sun, Jan 06___@Northwestern L
Thu, Jan 10___Michigan L
Wed, Jan 16___Minnesota W
Sun, Jan 20___@Iowa W
Wed, Jan 23___Wisconsin L
Sat, Jan 26___Maryland (New York, NY) L
Wed, Jan 30___@Minnesota L
Sat, Feb 02___Nebraska L
Tue, Feb 05___Michigan State L
Sat, Feb 09___Rutgers W
Thu, Feb 14___@Ohio State L
Mon, Feb 18___@Wisconsin L
Sat, Feb 23___Penn State W
Wed, Feb 27___@Purdue L
Sun, Mar 03___Northwestern L
Thu, Mar 07___Indiana L
Sun, Mar 10___@Penn State L

Dude, you are sucking all the joy from the world with that prediction.

BTW I think Iowa on the road is going to be a lot tougher than many of the games you have listed as an L.
 
#197      

NBB1979

UIUCFAN1
Springfield, IL
I hope I’m wrong - but I have us at 16-15 ... I’m looking for optimism but I think our lack of a 5 is going to really cost us some games this year :-(
 
#198      

Illwinsagain

Cary, IL
Thu, Nov 08___Evansville W
Tue, Nov 13___Georgetown L
Mon, Nov 19___Gonzaga (Maui Invitational) L
Tue, Nov 20___Arizona or Iowa State (Maui Invitational) L
Wed, Nov 21___Auburn/Duke/SDSU/Xavier (Maui Invitational) W
Sun, Nov 25___Mississippi Valley State W
Tue, Nov 27___@Notre Dame L
Sun, Dec 02___@Nebraska L
Wed, Dec 05___Ohio State (Chicago, IL) L
Sat, Dec 08___UNLV L
Sat, Dec 15___East Tennessee State W
Sat, Dec 22___Missouri (St. Louis, MO) L
Sat, Dec 29___Florida Atlantic W
Thu, Jan 03___@Indiana L
Sun, Jan 06___@Northwestern L
Thu, Jan 10___Michigan L
Wed, Jan 16___Minnesota W
Sun, Jan 20___@Iowa W
Wed, Jan 23___Wisconsin L
Sat, Jan 26___Maryland (New York, NY) L
Wed, Jan 30___@Minnesota L
Sat, Feb 02___Nebraska L
Tue, Feb 05___Michigan State L
Sat, Feb 09___Rutgers W
Thu, Feb 14___@Ohio State L
Mon, Feb 18___@Wisconsin L
Sat, Feb 23___Penn State W
Wed, Feb 27___@Purdue L
Sun, Mar 03___Northwestern L
Thu, Mar 07___Indiana L
Sun, Mar 10___@Penn State L

I refuse to give any credence to a prediction post that includes a loss to Mizzou. History is on our side, even when we don't necessarily have a better team.
 
#199      

Deleted member 643761

D
Guest
Too many variables for this year. I'm going to wait until 10 or 15 games in before I make a prediction.
 
#200      

GortTheRobot

North Bethesda, Maryland
Too many variables for this year. I'm going to wait until 10 or 15 games in before I make a prediction.

I honestly do not know if this is sarcasm or not, but I agree? We were in so many games last year, that a rugged start may not be a barometer for how we end up.
 
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