Pregame: Illinois vs Minnesota, Saturday, January 17th, 11:00am CT, BTN

[RabidDawgClassic]

Mi

Minnesota has 3 decent wins over Iowa, Indiana, and @NW. They also lost to Missouri by 23.

I don’t think Missouri is as bad as they appeared against us. That was just one of those anomalies like last year’s game at Oregon.

 

[Piotyr]

Mi

I don’t think Missouri is as bad as they appeared against us. That was just one of those anomalies like last year’s game at Oregon.

No, they're a borderline tournament team. Minnesota is not, though.

 

[3nDGuy]

Does anyone have a recommendation on where to get some breakfast and a bloody prior to the game? Somewhere that opens before 10am?
Wife and I are excited for our first game of the year and we'd like to be properly fueled! TIA

 

[illini0440]

Does anyone have a recommendation on where to get some breakfast and a bloody prior to the game? Somewhere that opens before 10am?
Wife and I are excited for our first game of the year and we'd like to be properly fueled! TIA

Bunny's tavern will have breakfast and a full bar.

 

[21ChampaignSt]

Bunny's tavern will have breakfast and a full bar.

Just order all your drinks at once and ask for your check well before it's time to head to the game because on gamedays the servers can be elusive.

 

[Illinialldayeveryday]

Legends?

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

Out of our home games we should definitely win and that would be real resume killers to lose, this one is definitely not going to be another Rutgers, IMO. Minnesota has some pieces, and they can play well ... they're a lucky break or two away from actually being 5-1 in Big Ten play. With that said, we will be clear favorites for a reason, and there is no excuse to lose to this Gophers squad on our home floor.

#13 Illinois 82
Minnesota 68

 

[OrangeBlue98]

This is a “short rest” game. In the past 4 NCAA tournaments I’m fairly certain the team has gone out on the second game of the two game weekend. This will be a good test of coaching and training against an opponent with limited practice and preparation. Hoping for a win on my birthday.

To be fair, we had a short rest situation last week with Rutgers Thursday night followed by a road trip to Iowa for an early Sunday game.

We’ve done this before, so I’m not overly worried about that specific item.

 

[Barfolomew]

Does anyone have a recommendation on where to get some breakfast and a bloody prior to the game? Somewhere that opens before 10am?
Wife and I are excited for our first game of the year and we'd like to be properly fueled! TIA

SFC will also be selling mimosas for this one, if that's you bag.

 

[ptgrd23]

Keys to game
- David over flu bug
- Illini keep playing good defense
- Reasonable (+27%) 3 pt %
- limit turnovers

Minnesota has 7 losses
Missouri
San Francisco
Stanford
Santa Clara
Purdue
USC
Wisconsin

Best wins
Indiana
Iowa

 

[2qtslow]

Keys to game
- David over flu bug
- Illini keep playing good defense
- Reasonable (+27%) 3 pt %
- limit turnovers

Minnesota has 7 losses
Missouri
San Francisco
Stanford
Santa Clara
Purdue
USC
Wisconsin

Best wins
Indiana
Iowa

One more key - No one else gets the bug from David.

 

[Fly Illini Fly!]

Keys to game
- David over flu bug
- Illini keep playing good defense
- Reasonable (+27%) 3 pt %
- limit turnovers

Minnesota has 7 losses
Missouri
San Francisco
Stanford
Santa Clara
Purdue
USC
Wisconsin

Best wins
Indiana
Iowa

Another key — Keaton over back spasms.

 

[SkyysNotFalling]

Keys to game
- David over flu bug
- Illini keep playing good defense
- Reasonable (+27%) 3 pt %
- limit turnovers

Minnesota has 7 losses
Missouri
San Francisco
Stanford
Santa Clara
Purdue
USC
Wisconsin

Best wins
Indiana
Iowa

They don’t really have a bad loss.. like a woah loss.. have a few good wins.. they will not be an easy out. This is the type of game past years teams sleepwalk through and lose. Let’s continue to prove these guys are different.

 

[Fly Illini Fly!]

They don’t really have a bad loss.. like a woah loss.. have a few good wins.. they will not be an easy out. This is the type of game past years teams sleepwalk through and lose. Let’s continue to prove these guys are different.

Not exactly sure what your definition of that is… but they have losses to San Francisco and Santa Clara. And Missouri by 23.

 

[EmeraldCityIllini]

They don’t really have a bad loss.. like a woah loss.. have a few good wins.. they will not be an easy out. This is the type of game past years teams sleepwalk through and lose. Let’s continue to prove these guys are different.

Losing by 12 on a neutral to San Francisco is a woah loss.

Still gotta bring it though.

 

[InDaAZ]

Another key — Keaton over back spasms.

 

[SkyysNotFalling]

Not exactly sure what your definition of that is… but they have losses to San Francisco and Santa Clara. And Missouri by 23.

Santa Clara & San Fran are good mid majors

 

[WolfpackIllini]

Not exactly sure what your definition of that is… but they have losses to San Francisco and Santa Clara. And Missouri by 23.

Ok. So if they lost to Miznoz by 23, we should win by 66.
I'm good with that.

 

[grue2]

Keys to game
- David over flu bug
- Illini keep playing good defense
- Reasonable (+27%) 3 pt %
- limit turnovers

Minnesota has 7 losses
Missouri
San Francisco
Stanford
Santa Clara
Purdue
USC
Wisconsin

Best wins
Indiana
Iowa

Santa Clara is probably a top 50 team. They have an outside shot at a last 4 in spot.

 

[Iloveorangekoolaid]

Santa Clara is probably a top 50 team. They have an outside shot at a last 4 in spot.

That Q4 home loss to Loyola is going to kill them. It’s a terrible (5-13) Loyola team that lost to Chicago St.

 

[IlliniHardwood]

Minnesota has 3 decent wins over Iowa, Indiana, and @NW. They also lost to Missouri by 23.

Forget the rest. I like the math on this one. 66-point win? Sign me up.

 

[Cravingschampaign]

 

[illiniguy24]

Forget the rest. I like the math on this one. 66-point win? Sign me up.

I love this game. It’s awesome that we beat Duke (TT) and Houston (Vols)

 

[jrichisamazing]

The Gophers are having an interesting season. Per Torvik

-Started the year ranked 85th.

-Dropped down to 100th after a horrendous November.

- From December to now they have been playing some pretty good ball, climbing all the way up to 66th now.

Others have already mentioned we are #1 on Torvik during our 6 game winning streak. Minnesota is 5-2 and ranked 36th during that same stretch.

 

[lstewart53x3]

The Gophers are having an interesting season. Per Torvik

-Started the year ranked 85th.

-Dropped down to 100th after a horrendous November.

- From December to now they have been playing some pretty good ball, climbing all the way up to 66th now.

Others have already mentioned we are #1 on Torvik during our 6 game winning streak. Minnesota is 5-2 and ranked 36th during that same stretch.

Good data. I will note, they only played one road game during that stretch. Granted, it was a win @Northwestern. Their previous road game before that was a 28 point loss @Purdue. Minnesota is 1-5 outside of the Barn this season. 9-2 at home.