2016-17 Preseason Predictions

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#1      

haasi

haasi
New York
haasi
Taking up Calvin's suggestion in the Wash U exhibition pregame thread, here's a thread for preseason predictions.

I'm going with: 23-8 (12-6). I think that would net us right around #20 in the country, a top 3-6 finish in conference, and a 5 seed in the tourney. I'll take whatever I'm smoking.

To be clear, I'd be quite happy with anything better than 20 wins and a comfortable tourney berth.


SE Missouri State - W
N. Ky. - W
McKendree - W
Detroit - W
Winthrop - W
West Virginia @ Barclays - L (#18 preseason)
FSU or Temple @ Barclays - W (I'm thinking over temple)
NC State - L (but would be a good win)
VCU @ Miami - W
IUPUI - W
Central Mich - W
BYU @ United Center - W
Mizzou @ STL - W (they're bad this year)

@Maryland - L
OSU - W
@IU - L
Michigan - W
Maryland - W
@Purdue - L
@Michigan - L
Iowa - W
@PSU - W
Wisconsin - L (hoping for a great win)
Minny - W
@NW - W
PSU - W
@Iowa - L
NW - W
@Neb - W
MSU - W
@Rutgers - W
 
#2      

FatGreg

F
FatGreg
I'll go with 21-10 (11-7):

SE Missouri State - W
N. Ky. - W
McKendree - W
Detroit - W
Winthrop - W
West Virginia @ Barclays - L
FSU or Temple @ Barclays - W (FSU)
NC State - L
VCU @ Miami - W
IUPUI - W
Central Mich - W
BYU @ United Center - L
Mizzou @ STL - W

@Maryland - W
OSU - W
@IU - L
Michigan - L
Maryland - W
@Purdue - L
@Michigan - L
Iowa - W
@PSU - L
Wisconsin - L
Minny - W
@NW - W
PSU - W
@Iowa - W
NW - W
@Neb - W
MSU - L
@Rutgers - W

Win two in the BTT, make the tournament as a #6 seed.
 
#3      

FiveStar

F
FiveStar
I've been saying top 4 in conference and 5 or better for the tourney. This is how I see it.

SE Missouri State - W
N. Ky. - W
McKendree - W
Detroit - W
Winthrop - W
West Virginia @ Barclays - L
FSU or Temple @ Barclays - W doesn't matter who
NC State - W
VCU @ Miami - W
IUPUI - W
Central Mich - W
BYU @ United Center - W
Mizzou @ STL - W

@Maryland - L
OSU - W
@IU - L
Michigan - L
Maryland - W
@Purdue - W
@Michigan - L
Iowa - W
@PSU - W
Wisconsin - W
Minny - W
@NW - W
PSU - W
@Iowa - W
NW - W
@Neb - W
MSU - L
@Rutgers - W

12-1 non con. 13-5 B1G. 25-6 overall. BTT semis at least. 5 seed or better in tourney.
 
#4      

Illinifanatic4ever

Illinifanatic4ever
Orange & Blue Blood in my Veins
Illinifanatic4ever
SE Missouri State - W
N. Ky. - W
McKendree - W
Detroit - W
Winthrop - W
West Virginia @ Barclays - W
FSU or Temple @ Barclays - W
NC State - W
VCU @ Miami - W
IUPUI - W
Central Mich - W
BYU @ United Center - W
Mizzou @ STL - W

@Maryland - L
OSU - W
@IU - L
Michigan - W
Maryland - W
@Purdue - L
@Michigan - L
Iowa - W
@PSU - W
Wisconsin - W
Minny - W
@NW - W
PSU - W
@Iowa - W
NW - W
@Neb - W
MSU - L
@Rutgers - W

13-0 non con. 13-5 B1G. 26-5 overall I am drunk on orange Kool Aid baby!!!
 
#6      

gibb52

G
gibb52
22-9 at least.

Top 5 in the B1G.

At least 1 BTT win.

6-7 seed or better in the Dance, at least 1 Tourney win.

After 5 yrs this is JG's deepest, most talented and most experienced group of players. He and his staff have to prove they can get it done at IL.
 
#8      

IllGuardU

I
IllGuardU
Illinifanatic4ever said:
SE Missouri State - W
N. Ky. - W
McKendree - W
Detroit - W
Winthrop - W
West Virginia @ Barclays - W
FSU or Temple @ Barclays - W
NC State - W
VCU @ Miami - W
IUPUI - W
Central Mich - W
BYU @ United Center - W
Mizzou @ STL - W

@Maryland - L
OSU - W
@IU - L
Michigan - W
Maryland - W
@Purdue - L
@Michigan - L
Iowa - W
@PSU - W
Wisconsin - W
Minny - W
@NW - W
PSU - W
@Iowa - W
NW - W
@Neb - W
MSU - L
@Rutgers - W

13-0 non con. 13-5 B1G. 26-5 overall I am drunk on orange Kool Aid baby!!!
Click to expand...

Save some for me! Tastes good!
 
#10      

FatGreg

F
FatGreg
Really, anything between 18-13 and 23-8 wouldn't shock me. I see our best realistic case as 11-2 non-con and 12-6 in the B1G. I also wouldn't be surprised by 9-4 non-con and 9-9 B1G. Worse than that and I'll be extremely disappointed. (Obviously, anything short of the tourney will be a disappointment.)

On the non-conference slate, we have 7 losable games: Winthrop (really solid low/mid-major), West Virginia, FSU/Temple, NC State, VCU, BYU, and Mizzou (I know they're bad, but you never want to take a rival for granted). We should beat Winthrop and Mizzou. FSU/Temple and VCU are toss-ups. I think we're the underdog against WVA, NC State, and BYU. Re: BYU, they have 5 former top-100 players on the roster and another key reserve who was ranked #114. Beyond the rankings, they are just really good. If we can win 5 out of the 7 losable games, we'll be in good shape.

The B1G will be a grind as always, but I think Maryland, Iowa, and OSU are going to be vulnerable. Minnesota and Nebraska don't scare me. Rutgers is abysmal. Northwestern and PSU look good, but not better than us. Michigan could go either way. I don't see how we're not ahead of 5-6 teams at worst.
 
#13      

Berg88

B
Berg88
SE Missouri State - W
N. Ky. - W
McKendree - W
Detroit - W
Winthrop - W
West Virginia @ Barclays - L
FSU or Temple @ Barclays - W
NC State - W
VCU @ Miami - L
IUPUI - W
Central Mich - W
BYU @ United Center - W
Mizzou @ STL - W

@Maryland - L
OSU - W
@IU - L
Michigan - W
Maryland - L
@Purdue - L
@Michigan - L
Iowa - W
@PSU - W
Wisconsin - L
Minny - W
@NW - W
PSU - W
@Iowa - W
NW - W
@Neb - W
MSU - L
@Rutgers - W

22-9 (11-7)
 
#19      

blmillini

B
Bloomington, IL
blmillini
Overall 19-12 Conference 9-9 NCAA tournament depends on BTT results

SE Missouri State - W
N. Ky. - W
McKendree - W
Detroit - W
Winthrop - W
West Virginia @ Barclays - L (#18 preseason)
FSU or Temple @ Barclays - W
NC State - L
VCU @ Miami - L
IUPUI - W
Central Mich - W
BYU @ United Center - W
Mizzou @ STL - W

@Maryland - L
OSU - L
@IU - L
Michigan - L
Maryland - L
@Purdue - L
@Michigan - L
Iowa - W
@PSU - W
Wisconsin - L
Minny - W
@NW - W
PSU - W
@Iowa - W
NW - W
@Neb - W
MSU - L
@Rutgers - W
 
#20      

JIllini

J
JIllini
Why are so many people predicting NC State as a loss? Are they supposed to be really good this year, even though they aren't ranked or receiving votes in the preseason poll? I'd like to think we're capable of beating any top-25 team at home. (not that preseason rankings mean anything)
 
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#21      

1867

1
1867
blmillini said:
Overall 19-12 Conference 9-9 NCAA tournament depends on BTT results

SE Missouri State - W
N. Ky. - W
McKendree - W
Detroit - W
Winthrop - W
West Virginia @ Barclays - L (#18 preseason)
FSU or Temple @ Barclays - W
NC State - L
VCU @ Miami - L
IUPUI - W
Central Mich - W
BYU @ United Center - W
Mizzou @ STL - W

@Maryland - L
OSU - L
@IU - L
Michigan - L
Maryland - L
@Purdue - L
@Michigan - L
Iowa - W
@PSU - W
Wisconsin - L
Minny - W
@NW - W
PSU - W
@Iowa - W
NW - W
@Neb - W
MSU - L
@Rutgers - W
Click to expand...

If they start out the B1G season 0-7, I don't see them recovering to 9-9 in conference. I could see it happening (starting 0-7, that is), but I think the wheels fall completely off if it does, and they'll finish closer to 4-14 in conference with the only wins coming at home against Minny, PSU, and NW and a road win against Rutgers. No matter what, the schedule is set up for another brutal January.
 
#22      

Calvin

C
Calvin
Tough team to predict this year. There’s a case that we’ll be better, and a case that we’ll be a lot better.

I’ll guess that we take care of business with a relatively soft non-conf, losing 1-2 games out of 3 challenging contests. I’m not expecting much in conference though. We don't have a great team in the BIG, but we have a lot of pretty good ones.

I’ll put the over/under at 10.5. Add one in the BTT and we are dancing. I’ll even put us down as a winner of 1 in the dance, for a total of 24 - 11.

On the national picture, Duke looks loaded and will be hard to beat.
 
#23      

WesterveltVictoryCigar

WesterveltVictoryCigar
WesterveltVictoryCigar
Here's our opponents sorted by preseason Pomeroy ratings. He has Illinois #70.

Wisconsin - 8
OSU - 13
MSU - 14
Purdue - 15
IU - 16
West Virginia - 20
Michigan - 31
VCU - 33
FSU 40
NC State - 36
Maryland - 48
BYU - 54
Iowa - 55
NW - 61
Minny - 71
Nebraska - 87
PSU - 98
Temple 117
Winthrop - 129
Central Michigan - 149
Mizzou - 165
Rutgers - 191
IUPUI - 196
Detroit - 251
Northern Kentucky. - 277
SE Missouri State - 313
McKendree - N/A
 
#24      

Illiniwek06

Illiniwek06
N of I-80
Illiniwek06
JIllini said:
Why are so many people predicting NC State as a loss? Are they supposed to be really good this year, even though they aren't ranked or receiving votes in the preseason poll? I'd like to think we're capable of beating any top-25 team at home. (not that preseason rankings mean anything)
Click to expand...

Don't know much about them, except that they added a stud freshman PG (top 5-10 national) whose mixtapes I've been stalking for the last few years.

[YOUTUBE]ZW1CVy7Un1Y[/YOUTUBE]
 
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