Fun fact, going by KenPom ratings, Illinois has played 10 games against teams better than Oklahoma State this season, and has gone 8-2 in those games.
NCAA Tournament
texillwek
🔶🔹🔸🔷
Most would say OK State is the tougher draw, but Tennessee has the potential to punch any team in the mouth, any given night. Yves Pons can get up
And a solid chance it's 11 (9-2) if we meet them, since Loyola-Chicago is rated higher and even Georgia Tech has a chance to climb ahead of Oklahoma State, depending on the first round games.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Tipsheet: NCAA crunched numbers, downplayed victories while seeding Mizzou
Missouri played a tough schedule and beat a lot of good teams this season, but neither fact impressed the NCAA Tournament selecrtion committee.
Interesting article on Misery's fate in the dance..............
Nice thoughts from another reporter on the Illini....
Myron Medcalf, ESPN.com: “During a three-game stretch late in the season, Illinois beat Nebraska, Wisconsin and Michigan -- the latter by 23 points in Ann Arbor. Ayo Dosunmu (20.9 PPG, 6. 2 RPG, 5.2 APG, 1.1 SPG, 40% from the 3-point line), the Wooden Award contender and NBA prospect, did not play in those games. Illinois weathered late-season drama without its star, but now that Dosunmu has returned, the Big Ten tournament champion Illini possess the talent and depth to handle any team in the field. Kofi Cockburn made 66.4% of his shots inside the arc during Big Ten play, the top mark in the league. But the emergence of freshman Andre Curbelo, who averaged 15.7 PPG in his last four regular-season games, has only enhanced this program's potential. It has been 16 years since Illinois lost to North Carolina in the national title game in 2005, but this group has a chance to make a similar run.”
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And they play with energy, excitement, and JOY!
I see no flaws.
Deleted member 747903
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Agreed although Tennessee has been downright terrible at points this year on offense. This is one team that can bang with Kofi but they likely don't have enough offensively to keep up with us.
You're greatly overestimating the Big Ten. Though I suppose that could be your point
haasi
- New York
check, check, check, check, check, check
I might go Purdue over OSU - if Purdue hit a few free throws, they would have beaten them in the BTT. Other than that .....
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
Even better than that, actually! We're 14-1 over the last 15 games. Even though we dropped the game against MSU, we are riding an incredibly impressive stretch right now.
Tacomallini
- Washington State
I'm doing a Pick 4 this year. (Pick any 4 teams and accumulate points by wins x seed #, so picking #1 seeds will do nothing for you here but a # 10 seed winning 3 games gets you 30 points). Any thoughts? I like MSU at the #11 seed even with the play-in game, and Ohio at #13. Maybe Rutgers at the #10?
Drake is intriguing - I can easily see them winning the play in and beating USC. Then they hit Kansas. Perhaps Georgetown at the 12 - they are on a roll.
Tennessee can not bang with Kofi. Pons is a great athlete but he's 6'6" 220. He's also not a great offensive player. Fulkerson who is their starting C just had surgery and is unlikely to play, at least the first weekend. The do have a 7'0" 260 guy but he is very raw. Tennessee is led by Fr so you get the variability that comes along with that despite their talent. I don't think they get past OK State
OK State is the Cade Cunningham show. Without him it's unlikely they make the tournament, certainly nowhere near a 4 seed. They don't have a big guy that can match with Kofi. However they have ability. If they get hot and we're off they can take us out.
Loyola, I don't see how they beat Georgia Tech, GT is underseeded. I see them more as a 6 or 7.
Deleted member 747903
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Pons gives up a couple inches but will likely be the strongest player Kofi has gone against just in terms of raw strength. I still think Kofi wins the matchup but will be interesting to see how he responds if we do face them.
My “crazy” final four that i could see happening:
Iowa, Texas, Purdue, Illinois
Dont forget how good The Boilermakers played down the stretch..and they have a good mix of athleticism/Size/defense/experience. Sneaky ff pick.
Iowa, Texas, Purdue, Illinois
Dont forget how good The Boilermakers played down the stretch..and they have a good mix of athleticism/Size/defense/experience. Sneaky ff pick.
Pons is not stronger than Garza, Liddell, Trevion Williams, or even Myles Johnson.
Deleted member 186590
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The okla st seeding is the baffling one to many- even if you kept them a 4 seed the fact that the committee put Florida St ahead of them is a shocker - FSU is 3-4 in Q1 games OSU is 10-6, supposedly Q1 wins is a key stat they look at - hard to see the logic-other than “ let’s have BU play his former team”which is obviously what they wanted
the fact that the committee doesn’t admit to storylines is laughable - MSU/UCLA in play in? us against Loyala? Yeah
having said all that we can beat anybody and I’m super excited to see us play whoever is in front of us
the fact that the committee doesn’t admit to storylines is laughable - MSU/UCLA in play in? us against Loyala? Yeah
having said all that we can beat anybody and I’m super excited to see us play whoever is in front of us
We could play:
Round 2 - instate mid-major
Round 3 - jilted former school
Round 4 - mentor Bob Huggins or hated Sampson
the committee absolutely set that up on purpose. Though being set up, doesn't mean it will actually happen. We could play none of those teams.
Deleted member 747903
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I could see an argument for Trevion Williams but I'd take Pons in a boxing match over the other three.
purdue is very good but i think they are too young
Yes I agree we are battle tested. It will be interesting to see the other Big Ten teams and see if we were the best conference. All BT teams have been battle tested this year. Maybe except Mich.