Looks like no votes in AP and 1 in coaches last week. I don’t think it is often that a team goes from no votes to ranked. They keep playing like this, they’ll be ranked soon. And if they don’t, then they won’t. Just use it to your advantage if you’re them.
Illini Women's Basketball 2023
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Illini_1979
- Oregon
For those who missed it...
Keep On Keepin' On
Successful non-conference record and currently 3-1 in conference play. Take care of business vs below average Northwestern team (on BTN) and than move on to a heavyweight fight vs Ohio State
Successful non-conference record and currently 3-1 in conference play. Take care of business vs below average Northwestern team (on BTN) and than move on to a heavyweight fight vs Ohio State
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Coach Green could beat Fahey's conference win total in her first year.........think aboot that for a minute .............................h*lls yeah...............
This is silly. You have one bad loss (I'm assuming it's bad), one loss to the number 6 (then number 4?) team in the country, and a win over the number 12 team in the country and you aren't ranked?
Illinois Women's basketball doesn't have a huge or really a good history at all. Green might be one of the top coaches here after her 1st season
I am a little scared to read what the gameday only posters are doing on the football forum so staying over here for a bit
I am a little scared to read what the gameday only posters are doing on the football forum so staying over here for a bit
illini80
- Forgottonia
My guess: Being buried on B10+, few have seen them play and so they are still basing their opinion on the last 5 years.
To give a bit of perspective on an efficiency level, the Illini women are currently ranked:
- #29 in NET
- #62 in ELO efficiency
- #31 in RPI (which is problematic in implementation, but not biased)
- #57 in Massey ratings (only other one I could find that was a calculated rating and not just a voted ranking)
So, #26 in AP is a little boosted from where they are on a neutral efficiency level. It just feels like they should be higher based on the sheer improvement from last year (fun fact, they were #263 in ELO last year!), and we just have to keep in mind there is a huge gulf between where they were last season and top 25.
They're fairly safely in a projected NCAA field right now (if the tournament were selected today, they'd be a 7-10 seed), they have a tough schedule in a tougher than usual B1G to navigate through, but their season projections have already improved so much from the start of the season (which was pretty much "don't finish last" and "don't get embarrassed in non-conference") to now (top half of the B1G and NCAA tournament spot).
This is great perspective. Good work.
I don't have a problem with the polls. Going off different polls we jumped up 10-15 slots from last week. There are teams in some of those last slots with 1-2 losses and a few with as many as 4 losses. There is a shot Illinois could even go 1-1 this week and be in the top 25 next week. If we go 2-0, we will be in the top 25 and jump up a considerable amount.
Creighton is 9-4 and at the #25 slot. Just going off when they played the teams, they are 2-3 against top 25 teams. Two of those losses are to UConn and Stanford which won't drop you down much. Illinois is 1-1 vs top 25. I think Illinois will be in the top 25 soon. Even if we don't beat the heavyweights and beat the average and below average teams at worst in the conference we will be in the top 25 eventually. Not having a ton of depth and staying healthy is the key to this season. Knock out the next opponent and move on...
Creighton is 9-4 and at the #25 slot. Just going off when they played the teams, they are 2-3 against top 25 teams. Two of those losses are to UConn and Stanford which won't drop you down much. Illinois is 1-1 vs top 25. I think Illinois will be in the top 25 soon. Even if we don't beat the heavyweights and beat the average and below average teams at worst in the conference we will be in the top 25 eventually. Not having a ton of depth and staying healthy is the key to this season. Knock out the next opponent and move on...
Illini_1979
- Oregon
Yeah, they loss to a team that made the ncaa tournament last year on the road, so it really shouldn’t be a bad loss from what I’ve read.
It’s doubt. That’s the only way to explain it. Missouri was getting votes before the loss to Illinois. They haven’t lost since and still get no votes.
I wonder if going 1-1 this week at home vs Northwestern and on the road at #3 Ohio State will be enough to get us ranked next Monday. Probably would have to win both. Hopefully the snub this week will light a fire.
2-0 easy claps
Watched the replay of the Iowa game last night after the bowl game. What a talented, scrappy team! I generally find wbb to be too pedestrian and “earthbound “ but not these girls!
The game was fantastic and kept my interest until the last second.
And Caitlin Clark… what a shooter! A more athletic Larry Bird…?
The game was fantastic and kept my interest until the last second.
And Caitlin Clark… what a shooter! A more athletic Larry Bird…?
MBB tickets, if they are available, will be expensive, even for the Jesus seats. WBB may be your Illini basketball in-person fix. Take in some games. We took in three while in town for football.
We have tickets to go to see the women play Rutgers at Piscataway, even though it’s at the same time MBB plays Ohio State. Perhaps that’s a mistake, but we will be able to say, we saw them when.
We saw the first exhibition game under Green, the first “real” game, and will see the last regular season game of Green’s first year. Trying to not get too far ahead in this process, but it’s not easy.
Go Illini.
We have tickets to go to see the women play Rutgers at Piscataway, even though it’s at the same time MBB plays Ohio State. Perhaps that’s a mistake, but we will be able to say, we saw them when.
We saw the first exhibition game under Green, the first “real” game, and will see the last regular season game of Green’s first year. Trying to not get too far ahead in this process, but it’s not easy.
Go Illini.
ESPN's updated bracketology has Illinois as a 7 seed: https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/s...ogy-2023-women-college-basketball-projections
"Welcome to the NCAA tournament, Illinois. Now go play Tennessee at UConn."
"Welcome to the NCAA tournament, Illinois. Now go play Tennessee at UConn."
Bird and Clark are a good comparison
I won't call her more athletic by any means. That achilles tear and back injury slowed him down towards the end of his career.
It is interesting how the high school game translates to the college game. Camille Jackson was a top 75 recruit and hasn't seen the floor much this season.
Dolan has a few advantages that could get her on the floor early next season. She can play multiple positions (plays PG in high school), great scorer from outside/inside and has length at 5'11". Illinois is guard heavy and likely return all 5 starters from this squad barring any transfers/injuries. Good problem to have when adding quality depth.
Her mom Kristen is her high school basketball coach. Kristen went to Canisius, sister Hannah is on Canisius roster now and our coach Shauna Green is all-time leading scorer at Canisius. Small world
Camille Jackson had an injury repaired with surgery over the summer, and is still getting back to form.Bird and Clark are a good comparison
I won't call her more athletic by any means. That achilles tear and back injury slowed him down towards the end of his career.
It is interesting how the high school game translates to the college game. Camille Jackson was a top 75 recruit and hasn't seen the floor much this season.
Dolan has a few advantages that could get her on the floor early next season. She can play multiple positions (plays PG in high school), great scorer from outside/inside and has length at 5'11". Illinois is guard heavy and likely return all 5 starters from this squad barring any transfers/injuries. Good problem to have when adding quality depth.
Her mom Kristen is her high school basketball coach. Kristen went to Canisius, sister Hannah is on Canisius roster now and our coach Shauna Green is all-time leading scorer at Canisius. Small world
I was aware of the injury but wasn't sure when she was officially released to practice. I figured she had a whole month of practice before the season started but maybe wasn't the case or slowed down a bit.
None of the freshmen have played significant minutes. Rhodes leads the pack with just over 50 minutes on the season and most of those came about when Cook missed a couple of games due to illness. Does Green have a history of playing freshmen at her previous stops?
The comment is a facetious carry-over from the men's recruiting board, where every good shooter was called "a more athletic Larry Bird." Bird was plenty athletic! He just couldn't cover Michael (but who could?)
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