Believe it or not, this game may be a huge springboard for rest of the shortened season.
Rest is pertinent during the grind of the Big Ten season; Illinois has played real well when rested.
To me, for the Big Ten tournament, it's the team who played already that has an advantage, especially when the competition is very similar: OSU played yesterday, got their feet wet while nervous, playing-not-to-lose Illinois struggled. And yet, Illinois advanced.
They got the ugly, nervous, struggling game out of their system. Stop #30 on Nebraska and get the ball inside on this weak Nebraska defense and Big Ten Championship game, here comes the Illini.