Pregame: Illinois at Nebraska, Sunday, February 1st, 3:00pm CT, FS1

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#176      
Fighter of the Nightman
Nebraska is a great team, and the environment will be intimidating … playing without Boswell is still tough, too, and we’ll have limited rest.

… But I just can’t get past the gut feeling that our loss to Nebraska was such an uncharacteristically uninspiring effort for us compared to everything after UConn. Not exactly high-level analysis here, but I do feel if we come out with the type of effort we had at Iowa, we will get another W. I have faith in this team.

I’m going with my heart here and predicting something a bit out there, and I’m gonna say we sort of send a shock to their system and make a huge statement.

Illini 84
Huskers 73
 
#177      
NASchamp
MSU is where we’re really going to miss Boswell. Need him on Fears.

Let’s just get him a wrapped club for a hand like in Football and play 100% defense 🤣.
 
#181      
Chase321
stevej64 said:
That’s awesome! Who was he with and what did he have to say ?
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He was at the bar having a drink with two people that I didn’t recognize. I felt bad interrupting his conversation but we had to get a picture with him. He was very gracious and didnt make us feel bad in the slightest. Shook my hand and we talked about how our home towns were 30 mins from each other and high schools were rivals. He has to get bothered like that all the time but he sure handles it well.
 
#183      
lstewart53x3
fuggles said:
Illinois +1.5. The money is moving toward us.
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Yes, the line has moved towards us (from -2.5 open to -1.5 now), but DraftKings has majority of bets favoring Nebraska. That must mean the larger bets and/or smarter bettors are favoring the Illini?

IMG_0451.jpeg
 
#186      
Bigtex
@GBR here we are again. How healthy is Nebraska?

Since you beat us we are 10-0
Assuming you are 9-1

Heck of a matchup. Hope the game is as exciting as last one with a slightly different outcome
 
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#189      
IllinoisIntegrity
This would be the most impressive and toughest win of the season.

-Neb returning home after a tough road loss and 5 days to prepare to our 2. They will be fired up big time.

An Illini win today would say a lot more than a competitive loss.
 
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#190      
Illinicpa14
Not that we can’t get to the 1 line - but those top 4 resumes are very tough right now unless one of them cracks (and just how they’ve all played, feels unlikely ).

A win today gets us inside track the rest of the season to at least a 2 and likely the St Louis first round sites. It’s not a must win but this infinitely takes off a ton of pressure to not trip up. you also see some separation starting to form around the top 10-12 and 13-20 to solidify no less then a 3.
 
#191      
ChiefGritty
Illinicpa14 said:
Not that we can’t get to the 1 line - but those top 4 resumes are very tough right now unless one of them cracks (and just how they’ve all played, feels unlikely ).
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This is exactly the point in the season where everyone underestimates how many times the top teams are going to lose.

Unfortunately we're one of said top teams, but we are in the battle for the Chicago regional.
 
#193      
Illinicpa14
ChiefGritty said:
This is exactly the point in the season where everyone underestimates how many times the top teams are going to lose.

Unfortunately we're one of said top teams, but we are in the battle for the Chicago regional.
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The average 1 seed had a record of 28.9 wins and 4.5 losses; so yes they will drop games but they also all need to finish closer to 7-3 vs We would Need to finish 11-1 (9-1 +2 BTT to selection Sunday). And on top, there’s games such as Duke vs Michigan where yes someone picks up a loss but someone picks up a top neutral win.

Look at those top teams schedules; think Michigan is the only one that ends up being vulnerable; and yet they still just went 2-0 this week with huge top 10 wins.

Torvik projects all those top 4 dropping 2-3 games in total this year.
 
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#196      
lstewart53x3
Illinicpa14 said:
The average 1 seed had a record of 28.9 wins and 4.5 losses; so yes they will drop games but they also all need to finish closer to 7-3 vs We would Need to finish 11-1 (9-1 +2 BTT to selection Sunday). And on top, there’s games such as Duke vs Michigan where yes someone picks up a loss but someone picks up a top neutral win.

Look at those top teams schedules; think Michigan is the only one that ends up being vulnerable; and yet they still just went 2-0 this week with huge top 10 wins.

Torvik projects all those top 4 dropping 2-3 games in total this year.
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Yeah, the top 3 projected one seeds each have 8-9 Q1 wins. We have 6 with 6 Q1 games remaining. To pass one of them, we’d need to go 4-2 or better, while the other team loses out.

That’s incredibly unlikely.

But, there is one spot left up for grabs that a team in that next group will get. 17-3 in the B1G + a strong showing in the B1T could claim it.
 
#197      
grantlab
I want to see if we can be just a little nastier defensively at all 5 positions. We’ve understandably taken a step back without Kylan on the floor — I feel like Andrej can be better guarding the opponent’s best guard / wing, but I also think Illinois has been having to hide Keaton defensively to keep him out of foul trouble, which puts undue pressure on Stojakovic to have a great game.

My question for this game is whether we can win on the margins by mixing up zone/man looks and finding ways to string together back-to-back stops. Taking away easy Sandfort looks is a must, but I actually thought we lost the first contest giving up shots at the rim off of blown switches and backdoor cuts. I almost think you beat Nebraska with more of a pack-the-paint approach and let anyone but Pryce beat you from three. If Lawrence and Hoiber hit 10 combined threes, fine, but if you let those guys break down your defense and live at the rim, it’s going to be a long night.
 
#199      
DeonThomas
Dan said:
FS1 (Kevin Kugler & Nick Bahe)

fightingillini.com

#9 Illini Set For Sunday Rematch at #5 Nebraska - University of Illinois Athletics

Illinois enters matchup riding a Big Ten-leading 10-game win streak.
fightingillini.com fightingillini.com


https://twitter.com/x/status/2017710571169202418
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Uncharted territory for me........HIGHLY, HIGHLY CONFIDENT!!!!

* National TV
* Biggest NCAA game of the day, and maybe weekend?
* #5 vs. #9
* 1st Place on the line
* Positioning ourselves for an NCAA #1 seed and "home tournament crowds" in rounds 1-4 of the Big Dance
* Odds stacked against us:
-- 2.5 point road underdogs
-- We've already lost to these guys at home in an upset
-- Our starting PG out with injury
-- Playing on the road with a hostile crowd
-- Not expected to win (by Vegas & the experts)
 
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