Hey man, we played Michigan fairly tough, and they seem to be the CLEAR class of the league (minus Michigan State, whom I sure you were counting as our one loss going forward). Let's do this, Illini fans:
W vs. Minnesota (this one is easy, guys ... piece of cake)
W at Iowa (I'll be there, and I have a winning record in person at CHA)
W vs. Wisconsin (we have to beat them some time ... right? We have lost 13 straight vs. UW, it can't last forever!)
W vs. Maryland in New York, NY (neutral site games used to be our thing, it's time we start that up again)
W at Minnesota (already beat 'em once! Remember when we won like 23 straight vs. them in the mid-2000s?)
W vs. Nebraska (revenge, baby!)
L vs. Michigan State (okay, okay, we come back down to Earth)
W vs. Rutgers (right back off Earth with a nice win over lowly Rutgers!)
W at Ohio State (revenge for the United Center game, baby!)
W at Wisconsin (remember that time that we had won like 2 of 3 in Madison while the rest of the country was like 4 of 100? Gotta channel our history to turn this thing around, plus this is playing to be .500!)
W vs. Penn State (gotta win these types of home games if you're going to be a team that performs miracles)
W at Purdue (why stop now?)
W vs. Northwestern (revenge!!!!)
W vs. Indiana (rivalry game at home, plus our new best friend: revenge, baby!)
W at Penn State (so much will be on the line, and our guys will be FIRED UP!)
That gets us to 18-13 (14-6), if my counting is accurate. At 14-6 in the Big Ten, we will get a great seed, and we will be playing in our backyard and historic stomping grounds, the United Center. This time, we will draw a good following, as used to be our expectation in that sacred building. I am seeing at least two wins in the Big Ten Tournament, so that puts us at 19-13 with an awesome Strength of Schedule and some quality wins at Iowa, vs. Maryland (NYC), vs. Nebraska, at Ohio State, vs. Indiana, etc. It would have been nice to get to 20, but hey - we dug this hole ourselves.
I'll be sweatin' it out on Selection Sunday with the rest of you guys, but look out for the NCAA Tournament lock 2019 Fighting Illini after that wild ride.
Be very careful. Orange coolaid is one thing. Drinking orange paint is another.