Relevant NET updates of Illini opponents today. Wins are listed first, and then they are listed in order of how
unlikely they are to drop down to the next Quadrant. Just under the heading, I put a reminder of what qualifies for each category ... mostly to help me as I typed this!
...
Updated today after the win against Michigan and some movement in the NET Rankings!
Quad 1: 2-9
H: #1-30, N: #1-50, A: #1-75
W vs. #4 UCLA (Las Vegas, NV)
W vs. #10 Texas (New York, NY)
L at #25 Maryland
L at #29 Indiana
L at #33 Iowa
L at #45 Northwestern
L vs. #30 Virginia (Las Vegas, NV)
L at #57 Penn State
L at #60 Ohio State
L vs. #29 Indiana
L vs. #49 Missouri (St. Louis, MO)
(MSU is 1 spot away from making us 3-9; Wisconsin is 2 spots away from making us 4-9)
at #5 Purdue
Quad 2: 7-1
H: #31-75, N: #51-100, A: #76-135
W vs. #31 Michigan State
W at #77 Wisconsin
W vs. #38 Rutgers
W vs. #45 Northwestern
W vs. #55 Michigan
W at #93 Nebraska
W vs. #60 Ohio State
L vs. #57 Penn State
(W vs. #77 Wisconsin is 2 spots away)
Our absolute best case scenario of beating Purdue, MSU moving up to at least #30 and Wisconsin moving up to at least #75 transforms our resume in the following way headed into the BTT:
Baseline: Lose to Purdue, Rankings Remain the Same
vs. Quad 1: 2-10
vs. Quad 2: 7-1
vs. Quad 3: 4-0
vs. Quad 4: 7-0
Best Case: Beat Purdue, MSU/Wisconsin Move Up
vs. Quad 1: 5-9
vs. Quad 2: 6-1
vs. Quad 3: 3-0
vs. Quad 4: 7-0
Wisconsin plays at Minnesota, so I am not sure if a win there moves them up the necessary two spots? We'll see. Michigan State plays NET darling Ohio State at home, so a Spartan win almost certainly moves them into a Quad 1 win for us. We should obviously be worrying about BEATING PURDUE, but root for Sparty and Bucky if you can as long as it doesn't negatively affect the Illini!
Also, for everyone's reference here is where each game would fall in the Quadrants for a neutral site Big Ten Tournament game:
Quad 1: 1-50
vs. #5 Purdue
vs. #25 Maryland
vs. #29 Indiana
vs. #31 Michigan State
vs. #33 Iowa
vs. #38 Rutgers
vs. #45 Northwestern
Quad 2: 51-100
vs. #54 Michigan
vs. #57 Penn State
vs. #60 Ohio State
vs. #77 Wisconsin
vs. #93 Nebraska
Quad 3: 101-200
(Nobody)
Quad 4: 201-353
vs. #227 Minnesota
So, as far as BTT matchups go...
- I'd rather not play Minnesota (absolutely nothing to gain) or Nebraska (feisty team lately and dangerously close to a Quad 3 loss in Chicago).
- For both the Quad 1 win and other reasons, I particularly want a shot at Iowa and Rutgers in the BTT.
- If you leave everything the same in the simulator (including us losing to Purdue), we are the #7 seed and play Wisconsin on Thursday (Quad 2) and Iowa on Friday (Quad 1).
