Pregame: Illinois at Wisconsin, Saturday, February 27th, 1:00pm CT, ESPN

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#51      
The almighty BTT Bracket Generator has made its return, and I was playing around with it. I predicted the other remaining games a tad differently than the website did, with the exceptions below:

- Minnesota losing at Nebraska (that ship is sinking!)
- Michigan State winning at Maryland (the hackers are on a roll)
- Minnesota beating Rutgers at home (they're kind of schizo)

Given those predictions (which you can obviously change if you mess around with the site), these are our possible BTT draws based on how we finish the season.

0-3: #4 seed playing the winner of #5 Iowa and #12 Penn State/#13 Northwestern

1-2 (beat WISC): #3 seed playing the winner of #6 Wisconsin and #11 Indiana/#14 Nebraska
1-2 (beat MICH): #3 seed playing the winner of #6 Wisconsin and #11 Indiana/#14 Nebraska
1-2 (beat OSU): #2 seed playing the winner of #7 Rutgers and #10 Minnesota

2-1 (beat WISC and OSU): #2 seed playing the winner of #7 Maryland and #10 Minnesota
2-1 (beat MICH and OSU): #2 seed playing the winner of #7 Rutgers and #10 Minnesota

3-0: #2 seed playing the winner of #7 Maryland and #10 Minnesota

So, assuming that even with Ayo the games at Michigan and at OSU will be the most difficult, it would be HUGE to grab a win on Saturday and avoid a first-game matchup with Iowa in the BTT. We can't be the 1-seed unless we beat Michigan and MSU sweeps them, I think.

I think our tough-but-achievable goal should be the 2-seed in the BTT and hopefully a BTT performance that earns us a 1-seed in the NCAAs. I obviously want Ayo to only come back when a doctor really thinks he can, but assuming he's cleared ... it might be better for him to play vs. Wisconsin and iron out the awkward kinks of wearing a mask rather than have his first game back be against Michigan. Again, this is a "best case" scenario. Remember that Maryland guy who played like crap his first game in a mask but then torched us in his second game wearing it? Lol.

If Illinois loses out and Wisconsin and Iowa win out (it doesn't matter who wins the Wisconsin vs Iowa head-to-head game) then Illinois would be a #5 seed in the B10 Tournament.

Illinois needs to win at least 1 of our final 3 to guarantee our Double-Bye in the BTT. Otherwise we're putting our hopes in the hands of Wisconsin and Iowa and I would hate to see that happen.
 
#54      

Dbell1981

Decatur, IL
Yeah coach has to feel like Bill Murray right now.
Smash Bill Murray GIF by Groundhog Day
 
#55      

illini80

Forgottonia
3 games in 5 days. Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday.

It would be so fitting if the extra game we squeezed it gives us a 1/2 game lead and a BT Championship over ScuM at the end of the season.
To further break it down, from the beginning of the Tuesday game to the end of the Saturday game is 93 hours. Divide that by 24 and it 3 games in 3.875 days.

3 games in less than 4 days. But by all means, let’s tip toe around scUM and make sure they get the schedule they feel comfortable with.
 
#57      
If Illinois loses out and Wisconsin and Iowa win out (it doesn't matter who wins the Wisconsin vs Iowa head-to-head game) then Illinois would be a #5 seed in the B10 Tournament.

Illinois needs to win at least 1 of our final 3 to guarantee our Double-Bye in the BTT. Otherwise we're putting our hopes in the hands of Wisconsin and Iowa and I would hate to see that happen.

Yeah, I didn't mess with any other outcomes besides the Illini's, so thanks for pointing that out. I will be on Cloud 9 if we win on Saturday, with or without Ayo, as everything from there on out in the regular season is just icing on the cake and potential for elite wins.
 
#58      
Are the Big 10 seedings based on winning percentage? If Illinois were to win out, and Michigan were to lose to us and one game to MSU, we finish up at 16-4 and Michigan at 14-3. Seems wrong that even though we're a half game up in the standings, Michigan gets the regular season title, especially since they dodged us and could have used our upcoming game as a makeup game for one of the three other games they missed playing.
 
#63      

JFGsCoffeeMug

BU:1 Trash cans:0
Chicago
This is starting to feel silly of us. In what world is Michigan BigTen hoops royalty? This is not football.
Royalty or not, Michigan either received or directly benefitted from special treatment this season.

Conference games
20: UI, OSU, Iowa, Wisc, Rut, MD, MSU, Minn
19: Pur, IU, PSU, NU, Neb
18:
17: Mich

The only thing preventing PSU, IU, and NU from playing their full 20s was Michigan refusing to make those three games up. Nebraska was shut down for nearly a month, and even they will still manage to play 19 games (with the sole casualty being a single game against Purdue). What's Michigan's excuse?

Additionally, Michigan's only single-day prep the entire season will occur between their two remaining home games. Must be nice.

It's not hard to read between the lines of BU's press conferences these days. The league asked Michigan to make up more games, but Michigan refused, and the league backed down. So Michigan was either the only team with the ability to say "no," or the only team that chose to exercise that privilege. There's nothing wrong with calling them out on it.
 
#64      
Royalty or not, Michigan either received or directly benefitted from special treatment this season.

Conference games
20: UI, OSU, Iowa, Wisc, Rut, MD, MSU, Minn
19: Pur, IU, PSU, NU, Neb
18:
17: Mich

The only thing preventing PSU, IU, and NU from playing their full 20s was Michigan refusing to make those three games up. Nebraska was shut down for nearly a month, and even they will still manage to play 19 games (with the sole casualty being a single game against Purdue). What's Michigan's excuse?

Additionally, Michigan's only single-day prep the entire season will occur between their two remaining home games. Must be nice.

It's not hard to read between the lines of BU's press conferences these days. The league asked Michigan to make up more games, but Michigan refused, and the league backed down. So Michigan was either the only team with the ability to say "no," or the only team that chose to exercise that privilege. There's nothing wrong with calling them out on it.
man you nailed it.
 
#66      
Royalty or not, Michigan either received or directly benefitted from special treatment this season.

Conference games
20: UI, OSU, Iowa, Wisc, Rut, MD, MSU, Minn
19: Pur, IU, PSU, NU, Neb
18:
17: Mich

The only thing preventing PSU, IU, and NU from playing their full 20s was Michigan refusing to make those three games up. Nebraska was shut down for nearly a month, and even they will still manage to play 19 games (with the sole casualty being a single game against Purdue). What's Michigan's excuse?

Additionally, Michigan's only single-day prep the entire season will occur between their two remaining home games. Must be nice.

It's not hard to read between the lines of BU's press conferences these days. The league asked Michigan to make up more games, but Michigan refused, and the league backed down. So Michigan was either the only team with the ability to say "no," or the only team that chose to exercise that privilege. There's nothing wrong with calling them out on it.
Excellent post.
 
#67      
Royalty or not, Michigan either received or directly benefitted from special treatment this season.

Conference games
20: UI, OSU, Iowa, Wisc, Rut, MD, MSU, Minn
19: Pur, IU, PSU, NU, Neb
18:
17: Mich

The only thing preventing PSU, IU, and NU from playing their full 20s was Michigan refusing to make those three games up. Nebraska was shut down for nearly a month, and even they will still manage to play 19 games (with the sole casualty being a single game against Purdue). What's Michigan's excuse?

Additionally, Michigan's only single-day prep the entire season will occur between their two remaining home games. Must be nice.

It's not hard to read between the lines of BU's press conferences these days. The league asked Michigan to make up more games, but Michigan refused, and the league backed down. So Michigan was either the only team with the ability to say "no," or the only team that chose to exercise that privilege. There's nothing wrong with calling them out on it.
And their women's team went ahead and played on the day that they were scheduled to play us, so its hard to imagine that their excuse was anything other than, "nah, we don't wanna."
 
#70      

Deleted member 29907

D
Guest
Wisc seemed like they had given up on the season last time we played them. They definitely don't like physical play. I'd say Kofi gets a bit of frustration out and they shrink away. If we can hit shots at a normal season rate I think we win this one. If we struggle with layups - it'll be long day.

We lose when we come into a game thinking we don't have to play hard. Sans Ayo, we come in knowing we have something to prove and play like the underdog.
 
#71      

Deleted member 747903

D
Guest
Wisc seemed like they had given up on the season last time we played them. They definitely don't like physical play. I'd say Kofi gets a bit of frustration out and they shrink away. If we can hit shots at a normal season rate I think we win this one. If we struggle with layups - it'll be long day.

We lose when we come into a game thinking we don't have to play hard. Sans Ayo, we come in knowing we have something to prove and play like the underdog.

Agreed, this is one we can win without Ayo since Wisco has no intention of battling with Kofi. Of course, Ayo had a triple double last time against them but we did win comfortably so we need Belo to pick up the slack on the boards and Ace to pick up the scoring.
 
#72      

altenberger22

South Carolina
Wisconsin: 2020 Big 10 champs; 5 returning starters this season; playing at home
Illinois: Playing on the road; 3rd game in 5 days; and, without All-American guard who averages 21 pts/game

WIS 75
ILL 58

I'm sensing an ugly blowout, even though we may be within shouting distance at the half.
 
#73      

GallopingGhost

Denver, CO
I can’t put my finger on what kind of game we may have today. Could be a blowout loss, a close game either way, or we win handily. It all depends what kind of teams show up. If you get the pissed Illini team with a chip to prove we can win without Ayo and the “Can this season be over” badgers, I think we got a good shot.

Now that being said, I think we may be looking at a loss. They are at home, have had longer to prepare (5 days off vs. 1), scheme against us sans Ayo, and probably have a taste for revenge. If that happens I won’t be too mad though, missing our best guy.
 
#74      
I get the comments about our team's preparedness and mental/physical wellbeing after playing such a condensed schedule BUT that stuff aside, I think we're the better team here with or without Ayo. I just hope that in a close late game situation someone will be able to step up
 
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