Pregame: Illinois at Northwestern, Saturday, November 26th, 2:30pm CT, BTN

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#27      
Illini2010-11
Mr. Roberts said:
I honestly am not all that interested in going to Indy. It will be a replay of yesterday - anoint the eastern team to the CFP.

Beat Northwestern, go 8-4, and (hopefully) get a decent bowl in repayment for what was taken from us.
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I agree in general premise, but a trip to Indy would be great for recruiting, even if the game is a loss. If we don't go, I prefer Iowa does, because I don't want to elevate the Purdue program. Iowa is not a big deal, as the fan base is tired of their coaching staff (my in laws who went there, have completely been tuned out the last few weeks, and want change to their program). Oh to consistently have 7-8 wins each year and be mad.

Also excited for our team to get those extra bowl practices. These are great for development purposes. At 8-4, I believe we should still be in a more winnable mid-tier bowl, so I can't complain there.
 
#29      
Dkayak
Mr. Roberts said:
I honestly am not all that interested in going to Indy. It will be a replay of yesterday - anoint the eastern team to the CFP.

Beat Northwestern, go 8-4, and (hopefully) get a decent bowl in repayment for what was taken from us.
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Good point. Let’s stick to games that don’t have the officials’ fingers on the scale. Imagine what the B1G officiating would look like if we ever managed to threaten to defeat OSU? Just too frustrating to imagine watching such a game.
 
#33      
CleaverName
redwingillini11 said:
If we don’t win this game I may literally die.

Parks And Recreation GIF


Might be there too!
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Beat Northwestern !
 
#35      
trtl
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Sorry, guys … but not wanting to go to Indy is insane. 🙃 Statistically unlikely to matter, though, let’s just beat NU and finish off this season on a good note!
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Thank you for some sensibility, Mr. Man and for being more polite than me. A “fan” rooting for his/her team to NOT make the B1G championship game because you think the refs might make calls against us???? What a loser mentality.
 
#36      
trtl
Now that I ticked off some people, I need a favor. I thought if Purdue loses and we win that Purdue holds the tie breaker and goes to Indy. Is that not right?
 
#38      
Illini2010-11
trtl said:
Now that I ticked off some people, I need a favor. I thought if Purdue loses and we win that Purdue holds the tie breaker and goes to Indy. Is that not right?
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Only way we get in is through 3 way tiebreaker. This requires Iowa and Purdue to lose and us win. Multiple team tiebreaker works using following criterium (if two teams remain after any step, winner of head to head wins division):

1) record amongst tied teams, remove team(s) with lowest record - (each would be 1-1), so move to second tiebreaker
2) Division record (Illini have best record among 3 teams, so Purdue and Iowa eliminated). Illini win division

Only way Purdue beats us is if the tiebreaker rules got it down to head to head, but that is not possible. That is why Iowa is in driver's seat. They hold individual tiebreaker over Purdue if they each tie for division only. That is why Iowa is win and in. Purdue needs Iowa to lose and then win (they would have best record). If both Iowa and Purdue lose and Illini lose, Iowa wins 2 team tiebreaker based on head to head win.

As such, Iowa is the first team to watch, then Purdue second (if Iowa loses). Otherwise Saturday games won't matter if Iowa wins.
 
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#39      
Boomauer
I worry about the NW game. This series is full of unexpectedly weird games and outcomes. Our Illini expended a lot of effort and emotion against Michigan. Hope we have enough left in the tank to beat the Kitties.
 
#40      
RoundBalcs
Mr. Roberts said:
I honestly am not all that interested in going to Indy. It will be a replay of yesterday - anoint the eastern team to the CFP.

Beat Northwestern, go 8-4, and (hopefully) get a decent bowl in repayment for what was taken from us.
Click to expand...
I do not understand this line of thinking. We have exceeded preseason expectations by leaps and bounds. The exposure, excitement, (I think) extra practices, and chance to play with house money again on a national stage? Sign me up
 
#41      
DeonThomas
DeonThomas said:
Thought it was just about time to retrieve this August 20th pre-season post (#276) I made before we had even played a game:

Best case scenario this season:
- Bielema proves he is indeed a developer of OL-first programs; and our top 7 linemen stay healthy all year -- Top OL all healthy & playing great!!!
- Running game ranks #3 in the BigTen in the regular season -- #5 @ 180 yards per game AND Chase is #1 rusher in NCAA !!!
- QB's average 215 yards per game passing; hitting on 62% of their passes -- 214.9 yards per game, currently; 70% is #1 in conference
- Walters proves he's a defensive scheme genius; and improves on our 2021 defensive stats -- #2 @ 13.1 ppg (21.9 points per game in 2021)
- Defense ranks #6 overall in the BigTen during the regular season -- #2 behind Michigan in both scoring and yards per game
- 8-4 overall regular season record (incl. a 4-0 start); 5-4 conference record; and an invitation to the Music City Bowl --8-4; 5-4 likely; Music City s/b the floor
- Bielema finishes 3rd in COY voting -- Harbaugh, Ryan Day, or, Bielema should win
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Now with current stats heading into the NW game on Saturday. Bottom-line, we're all probably a little disappointed with 3 consecutive losses, but this team and coaching staff has over-achieved!
 
#44      
WWWWRocU
Taking a win over the kitty kats as a given, it is a tall order to hope that both Iowa and PU lose.
PU on the road is to our advantage and hoping IU wants the in state rivalry game more than PU.

Then, Nebby to me is unpredictable, even being on the road, anything is possible.

We'll see.
 
#45      
BZuppke
It is certainly possible for both to lose - Nebraska has talent and IU could surprise at home. Regardless I’d love to see Chase have a career day against NW and continue Bret’s dominance of them.
 
#49      
RML
IlliniTaffy said:
This should be a blowout. Northwestern lost to an SIU team that went 4-6 against FCS teams.
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More recently, on the road, they lost to Purdue by 8. We lost to Purdue at home by 7. If you think this game should be a gimme, your doctor might recommend that you not watch.
 
#50      
Fighter of the Nightman
FWIW, the ESPN matchup predictor gives the following results for what we need to happen:

Nebraska wins at Iowa - 17.5%
Indiana beats Purdue at home - 28.5%
Illinois wins at Northwestern - 81.7%

These are hardly scientific, lol, but I think it more or less hammers home the point that has already been said ... we only really need to start worrying about these other games if Nebraska scores a MASSIVE upset on Friday, which is kind of nice because that game will happen a full day before anything else. I will be back home tailgating in Iowa City with my friends, and I will have a little Nebraska Soccer shirt that I bought several years ago for a friend who coached there tucked neatly under all of my other clothes. :ROFLMAO:
 
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