Illinois had a veteran and older team last year and after 16 games that team was 12-4, 4-2 This year team, which is one of the youngest in the country is 12-4, 4-2 after 26 games. The youth of this team will be a problem all year. I predicted 20-11. No championships and a round of 32 appearance in the BIG DANCE!!
Illini Basketball 2024-2025
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I’m more upset that the atmosphere at Nebraska is better than ours. Don’t get me wrong, the place gets rocking for big games but Nebraska has a tough environment every game
Hot take, but Illinois really should have built a new stadium instead of the remodel. Maybe it's for the worst (and you end up with a soulless multi-event geared place like Ohio State's Schottenstein Center or Oregon's Matthew Knight Arena), but keeping the Assembly Hall form factor really hampered any huge gains. And I'm saying this as someone who LOVES the Assembly Hall. Could be something to the PA and music stuff, but I'd argue the lighting is top notch (was completely revamped with the remodel).
Maybe the upcoming seating reshuffling helps things, but I doubt that too, because the closer seats are getting even more expensive (so more unattainable for the kind of fans there for passion rather than business purposes).
But really, the lull is winter break games. Illinois' main student populace doesn't live close to the stadium, so break games are extra dead.
Maybe the upcoming seating reshuffling helps things, but I doubt that too, because the closer seats are getting even more expensive (so more unattainable for the kind of fans there for passion rather than business purposes).
But really, the lull is winter break games. Illinois' main student populace doesn't live close to the stadium, so break games are extra dead.
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
Nope. The SFC (Assembly Hall) is iconic in a way very few college stadiums are. It should stick around for as long as the fates allow.
Joel Goodson
- how was I to know, she was with the Russians too?
Self was the beneficiary of inheriting damn good talent from Kruger, whereas Underwood inherited a bottom feeder
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
No, just a couple wondering, which is what I meant by past behavior (of others) affecting my current interpretation. Not fair to any who did not party but I'm struggling to understand this horrible burden that 11am games seem to be.
With 22 tonight, we can Boswell to the list. That's 8 players with a 20 point night this year.
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Is Torvik used at all with the committee? If so, my GOD!!! Let's do this!
Basketball school
I wonder what the preseason odds were of this team winning 3 conference road games by >25 points
I don't think we are there yet. Maybe in the future.
How is that possible? Didn't tsj have like 15 last year...I guess not
Corey Bradford?
Just counted. 21 games over 20. Averaged 23.
Yes, Torvik and the Wins Above Bubble metric were added this year to the things the committee looks at this year.
Does anyone know the best website to look up and compare all the different metric sites. I like to see a side by side comparison of where the different metrics are per each team. I know I can look up each individually but didn't know if there was a good place to check.
Someone a few weeks ago posted a great link that showed how the ILLINI have moved throughout the season but can find the website again
Someone a few weeks ago posted a great link that showed how the ILLINI have moved throughout the season but can find the website again
Bracketologists site is good, might be the one you're thinking of...
This is the exact one
Thank you!
*Looking at the website and seeing since Day 1 the lowest this team was 16th in NET might be the most impressive thing. you expect a young team with the schedule that they have had to struggle and have a low NET rating to start. This could be a biased take, but in probably the past 10-15 years I don't recall a team that was this inexperienced that has come out as hot as they have. The only 2 teams I can recall would be the Duke team with the top 3 recruits that year and Kentucky with Anthony Davis. I don't want to say this team is better than those but they have to be in that conversation I would think*
USC jumped up a bit, so that game is currently a Q2 loss. Still inexcusable but...
Floors and ceilings. The fact that this team already has blown away 3 B1G teams, two on the road, the one at home without one of the best players in college basketball, is pretty darn impressive. Having KJ raises the floor that was the USC loss. I really don't think that happens if he plays because he adds so much, including length and basketball IQ, on both ends of the court. His ability to adapt to almost anything the opponent throws at him is a rare talent. His calming presence protects against the uncharacteristic panic they showed at times against USC. At their best, the Illini are as good as any team in the country (says Captain Obvious). They will be tested Sunday, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they respond.
I think both USC and Northwestern have got some conference wins in their future, both of their Big Ten schedules thus far have been on the harder end, so that should help our cause. Looking at the NET rankings it's astonishing that with 18 teams in the conference we only have one 100+ team (Minnesota). At this time I could see around 10 teams making the tournament.
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