BIG Predictions

#26      

TownieMatt

T
CU Expat
Chicago
TownieMatt
I'll take 7-11 for this team. I'm afraid picking more wins than that would be based only on recency bias. On the evidence of the whole season, I don't think our defense is good enough to expect more than a losing B1G record. I won't bother picking each game, because I'll be totally wrong, but I will say that the stretch where we play...

vs Ohio State
vs Wisconsin
at Rutgers
vs Iowa
at Northwestern
vs Rutgers

...is extremely important to this team. That's 4 winnable home games and 2 winnable road games in succession. Win 5 of 6, and we have a chance to really improve our season.
 
#27      

Cubby Blue

C
Cubby Blue
I'm going for equality! 9-9

If we win 10 and 2 tournament games we go.

If we win 9 and 1 we are in NIT.

Malcolm and Kendrick need to be first and second team if we are to reach the tourney. They can do that. We can do that. :thumb:
 
#28      

foby

foby
Bonnaroo Land
foby
Anywhere from 10-8 to 13-5.

The defensive intensity has improved over the last few games and will continue to do so. This team is an offensive team, and only needs to make enough stops on D to outscore the opponent. They will get out rebounded by about everyone, but will win the turnover battle by a good margin over most teams they play. Have been improving on closing off the passing lanes, and causing more turnovers, so that will balance out the rebounding and open up a lot more chances for easy buckets.

Will have match up problems with bigger teams, and conversely will create match up problems for teams like Purdue. Controlling tempo to their style will be key.

I like our team, and like our chances to do very well in the B1G and even little further.
 
#29      

UofIChE06

U
Pittsburgh
UofIChE06
It is a good year to be a bit down. Really only PU, MSU and Maryland stand out from the pack. OSU and Wisc are clearly shells of what they have been lately. UM is more or less Lavert with some help but not a ton. I think the wheels are going to come off sooner than later in Bloomington (something just seems off there). Really UI, IU, UM, OSU, Wisc, Iowa, and NU are all meh and could theoretically finish in any order. The three stand outs finish and the top, the 4 others finish in the bottom and these 7 can be in any order. The plus is UI's schedule is favorable much like PU's was last season.
 
#30      

zoggle101

Z
zoggle101
tOSU just beat UK. Trevor Thompson and J Lyle are starting to gel with the team. If you add those two with KBD, J Tate, and M Loving you have a starting five that is as gifted as most of the top 25 teams in the country. Throw in their talented along with rapidly improving freshman class sans Austin Grandstaff, and they will not be an easy game.
 
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#31      

ChiTownJH

C
ChiTownJH
If they can finally get into rhythm on defense, I'll say 11-7 or better. If the defense continues to struggle, I'll say 7-11 or worst.
 
#32      

samtheman10

S
samtheman10
I'll give this a try:

L vs Michigan (0-1)
L at Ohio State (0-2)...unless the 2-3 November OSU shows up :)
L at Michigan State (0-3)
L vs Purdue (0-4)
W vs Nebraska (1-4)
L at Indiana (1-5)
W at Minnesota (2-5)
W vs Ohio State (3-5)
L vs Wisconsin (3-6)
W at Rutgers (4-6)
L at Iowa (4-7)
L at Northwestern (4-8)
W vs Rutgers (5-8)
W at Wisconsin (6-8)...Think we steal one here; UW is rolling with a 7-man rotation, they'll be running on fumes in late Feb. if they continue to ride it.
L vs Indiana (6-9)
W vs Minnesota (7-9)
L at Maryland (7-10)
W at Penn State (8-10)
 
#33      

Jkat00

Jkat00
Champaign, IL
Jkat00
samtheman10 said:
I'll give this a try:

L vs Michigan (0-1)
L at Ohio State (0-2)...unless the 2-3 November OSU shows up :)
L at Michigan State (0-3)
L vs Purdue (0-4)
W vs Nebraska (1-4)
L at Indiana (1-5)
W at Minnesota (2-5)
W vs Ohio State (3-5)
L vs Wisconsin (3-6)
W at Rutgers (4-6)
L at Iowa (4-7)
L at Northwestern (4-8)
W vs Rutgers (5-8)
W at Wisconsin (6-8)...Think we steal one here; UW is rolling with a 7-man rotation, they'll be running on fumes in late Feb. if they continue to ride it.
L vs Indiana (6-9)
W vs Minnesota (7-9)
L at Maryland (7-10)
W at Penn State (8-10)
Click to expand...

Iowa game is in Champaign. :thumb:
 
#34      

Tygor

T
Tygor
People are living in a different world if they think we're going to go into East Lansing and beat the #1 team in the country on their home floor. I don't care who they have playing or not playing.
 
#35      

CAHALL15

C
Central Illinois
CAHALL15
Starting out anything other than 0-4 is a plus, in my book.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I do feel like some people are treating the transition from non conference to conference play like drivers do in the transition from neutral road conditions to snowy/icy conditions: a lot of people forget and end up in the ditch. Mizzou and Western Carolina cannot hold up a candlestick to most B1G teams.
 
#36      

Jkat00

Jkat00
Champaign, IL
Jkat00
Tygor said:
People are living in a different world if they think we're going to go into East Lansing and beat the #1 team in the country on their home floor. I don't care who they have playing or not playing.
Click to expand...

Relax man it's just a bold prediction. But btw... Illinois was double digit underdogs on the road at MSU the last 2 seasons... and won them both. Last year Rice and Cosby still suspended and nobody gave us a shot. Merry Christmas
 
#37      

Deleted member 29907

D
Guest
Deleted member 29907
Jkat00 said:
W vs Michigan (1-0)
L at Ohio State (1-1)
W at Michigan State (2-1) No Valentine.... students are gone.... we always play well in East Lansing.
L vs Purdue (2-2)
W vs Nebraska (3-2)
L at Indiana (3-3)
L at Minnesota (3-4)
W vs Ohio State (4-4)
L vs Wisconsin (4-5)
W at Rutgers (5-5)
W vs Iowa (6-5)
W at Northwestern (7-5)
W vs Rutgers (8-5)
L at Wisconsin (8-6)
W vs Indiana (9-6)
W vs Minnesota (10-6)
L at Maryland (10-7)
W at Penn State (11-7)

19-12 overall . Need 1-2 big ten wins to get into NCAAs
Click to expand...

Saw the SMU Michigan game - SMU just abused Michigan. Lavert had, what, 0 points in the first half. SMU put a lock down defender that took away Laverts ability to get a clean look and Lavert did not look like he could dribble by anyone. I think you put a better, quicker defender on him and help from the right spots, shoot a decent game, and we beat Michigan. Small sample, but they did not look fluid at all that game...
 
#38      

KnoxIllini2

KnoxIllini2
KnoxIllini2
The magic number is 12 more wins. I am hoping for an 11-7 conference slate but hopes don't get people all that far.
Realistically the non-conference slate has shown us we will be a bottom half B1G team again. IF we are able to get healthy AND hot my hope could become a reality.
The 30th will be a huge game, like every game in the B1G. Beat Michigan, Go Illini.
 
#39      

lstewart53x3

lstewart53x3
Scottsdale, Arizona
lstewart53x3
samtheman10 said:
I'll give this a try:

L vs Michigan (0-1)
L at Ohio State (0-2)...unless the 2-3 November OSU shows up :)
L at Michigan State (0-3)
L vs Purdue (0-4)
W vs Nebraska (1-4)
L at Indiana (1-5)
W at Minnesota (2-5)
W vs Ohio State (3-5)
L vs Wisconsin (3-6)
W at Rutgers (4-6)
L at Iowa (4-7)
L at Northwestern (4-8)
W vs Rutgers (5-8)
W at Wisconsin (6-8)...Think we steal one here; UW is rolling with a 7-man rotation, they'll be running on fumes in late Feb. if they continue to ride it.
L vs Indiana (6-9)
W vs Minnesota (7-9)
L at Maryland (7-10)
W at Penn State (8-10)
Click to expand...

I think this is fairly reasonable. Except I'll pick us to win at home vs Wisconsin and lose on the road at Wisconsin. And I think we'll beat Indiana at home. So I'll take us 9-9.

Edit: To add to that, even though 9-9 won't be good enough to get us into the tourney this year (unless we win the BTT), I'd be happy with that season, considering the injuries we've had to overcome.
 
#40      

DJRichardson4threee

D
IlliniGator2011
Chicago, IL
DJRichardson4threee
I think 8 wins is pretty reasonable considering how favorable our schedule is. We only have three games against the top three teams MSU Purdue and Maryland. I think we sweep Minnesota and Rutgers, win at home vs Nebraska and on the road vs penn state, that puts us at 6. Then we have 8 games against the middle of the pack to get two more wins and/or make up for any losses in those six that I think we should win. My worst to best case scenarios is between 7 and 11 wins.
 
#41      

Orange

Orange
Orange
Looking forward to how this team does in conference play. I'm seeing 9 wins but could see chemistry gelling and getting to 12.
 
#42      

blmillini

B
Bloomington, IL
blmillini
L vs Michigan (0-1)
L at Ohio State (0-2)
L at Michigan State (0-3)
L vs Purdue (0-4)
W vs Nebraska (1-4)
L at Indiana (1-5)
L at Minnesota (1-6)
L vs Ohio State (1-7)
L vs Wisconsin (1-8)
W at Rutgers (2-8)
L at Iowa (2-9)
L at Northwestern (2-10)
W vs Rutgers (3-10)
L at Wisconsin (3-11)
L vs Indiana (3-12)
W vs Minnesota (4-12)
L at Maryland (4-13)
W at Penn State (5-13)

Hope I'm wrong and we can get a few more but I think we are in trouble without Thorne.
 
#45      

IllinoisFan733

IllinoisFan733
Chicago
IllinoisFan733
Based on past history and my opinion, I think the selection committee will treat the early losses and consider the fact we were missing Nunn, Tate, Black. Just hope those teams continue to do well so it improves our profile.

However, we need to improve our resume and put together some solid wins I'm the B10. It's who you beat, more so than who you lost to.
 
#47      

zpfled

Z
Logan Square, Chicago
zpfled
Tygor said:
People are living in a different world if they think we're going to go into East Lansing and beat the #1 team in the country on their home floor. I don't care who they have playing or not playing.
Click to expand...

This is college basketball. Upsets happen so often they're not even surprising anymore.

You're living in a different world if you think a team like Illinois beating MSU on their home floor is impossible.
 
#48      

Robert Bennett

R
Robert Bennett
From what y'all are saying y'all are not expecting this team to grow, I mean c'mon every team is not gonna shoot lights out against us, the only hard games are MSU , MD , PU other than that the other games are winnable and I believe Finke will hold his own and mav will give good mins, JCL will show flashes we have enough in the tank to win enough games and make a run at the tournament.
 
#49      

FeelYourPaign

FeelYourPaign
So Cal
FeelYourPaign
Robert Bennett said:
From what y'all are saying y'all are not expecting this team to grow, I mean c'mon every team is not gonna shoot lights out against us, the only hard games are MSU , MD , PU other than that the other games are winnable and I believe Finke will hold his own and mav will give good mins, JCL will show flashes we have enough in the tank to win enough games and make a run at the tournament.
Click to expand...

I agree that this team will grow, but you have to grow faster than everyone else. That is the unmentioned part of growing. It's all relative. I think we might do that, based on age and experience of our roster. We should get something for that. JCL missed the summer, etc. Etc, etc