Pregame: Illinois vs Duquesne, Saturday, March 23rd, 7:40pm CT, TNT

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#59      

DeonThomas

DeonThomas
South Carolina
DeonThomas
From DraftKings this evening:

2024 March Madness: Duquesne vs. Illinois odds​

Spread: Illinois -8.5
Over/Under: 151.5
Moneyline: Illinois -340, Duquesne +270
 
#60      

skyIdub

skyIdub
Winged Warrior
skyIdub
DeonThomas said:
From DraftKings this evening:

2024 March Madness: Duquesne vs. Illinois odds​

Spread: Illinois -8.5
Over/Under: 151.5
Moneyline: Illinois -340, Duquesne +270
Click to expand...

Me on the over button...

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#62      

zuma

Z
zuma
I've been following A10 basketball pretty closely the last 5 years and this year's Duquesne team has been up and down, but they're hot right now. Grant and Clark are nice guards, and they're certainly capable of controlling a game together. I feel that Clark will give us some problems with his defense especially.

We'll see what happens, but I like Illinois' chances to win by 10 or so.
 
#63      

SoCal Illini

S
SoCal Illini
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Someone had asked earlier about the history of us having a favorable upset in our region when we were a decently high seed, such as #11 Duquesne upsetting #6 BYU. Since the modern seeding started in 1985, this is the history. Limiting it to top 5 seeds, since a #5 seed is more or less the same as a "protected" #4 seed.

1985: #3 Illinois makes Sweet Sixteen. No upsets, we had to beat #6 Georgia and lost to #2 Georgia Tech in the Sweet Sixteen.
1986: #4 Illinois loses Second Round. No upsets, we lost to #5 Alabama in the Second Round and would have had to play #1 Kentucky in the Sweet Sixteen.
1987: #3 Illinois loses First Round. Yes, we all know the Austin Peay disaster. However, there were no upsets waiting ... we would have had to beat #6 Providence and #2 Alabama.
1988: #3 Illinois loses Second Round. No upsets, we lost to #6 Villanova in the Second Round and would have faced #2 Kentucky.
1989: #1 Illinois makes Final Four. Zero upsets, after our First Round win, we beat #9 Ball State, #4 Louisville and #2 Syracuse to get to the Final Four.
1990: #5 Illinois loses First Round. While we would have had to beat #4 Arkansas in the Second Round, #8 seed North Carolina knocked off #1 Oklahoma in our region ... and proceeded to lose by 23 to #4 Arkansas. And then #4 Arkansas made the Final Four by beating #10 Texas in the Elite Eight because of two upsets in the bottom of the bracket.
1998: #5 Illinois loses Second Round. No upsets, we would have had to beat #1 Arizona if we got past #4 Maryland.
2000: #4 Illinois loses Second Round. No upsets, #5 Florida (who beat us) had to go through #1 Duke and #3 Oklahoma State to make the Final Four.
2001: #1 Illinois makes Elite Eight. No upsets, we ran through #4 Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen before going down to #2 Arizona (the first Illini game I remember).
2002: #4 Illinois makes Sweet Sixteen. As another poster mentioned, we WERE helped out here by #12 Creighton taking down #5 Florida in the First Round.
2003: #4 Illinois loses Second Round. No upsets, if we had beat #5 Notre Dame, we'd have #1 Arizona waiting.
2004: #5 Illinois makes Sweet Sixteen. No upsets, we beat #5 Cincinnati (like a drum!) before falling short vs. #1 Duke.
2005: #1 Illinois makes National Championship Game. After beating #9 Nevada, we did get to face #12 UW-Milwaukee (who had just knocked off #5 Alabama and #4 Boston College).
2006: #4 Illinois loses Second Round. While we would have had to beat #1 UConn in the Sweet Sixteen, #11 George Mason waited in the Elite Eight.
2021: #1 Illinois loses Second Round. Frustrating missed opportunity ... if we got past #8 Loyola, we would have faced #12 Oregon State for a trip to the Elite Eight.
2022: #4 Illinois loses Second Round. No upsets, we had #1 Arizona waiting.

TL;DR
So, 2024 (#11 Duquesne standing between us and a Sweet Sixteen) is one of the most favorable setups we have ever had to make the Second Weekend. GET IT DONE!

P.S. I was not around for 1990, but MAN that one seems like a huge wasted opportunity. We lost by 2 to #12 Dayton who then lost by 2 to #4 Arkansas ... who would go on to the Final Four.
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I think you forgot one… 96-97 #6 seed losing in second round to #14 seed Chattanooga

Just saw someone beat me to this further down the thread
 
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#65      

OrangeKrush1981

OrangeKrush1981
OrangeKrush1981
I believe Steph Curry is also a mere 6'3 ... have to be ready for whatever comes, tall or not, powerful or slight. I think this ILLINI squad may well be ready for every eventuality. At least I HOPE so.
 
#66      

CleverHandle1

C
CleverHandle1
whatahack said:
These non-power 5 teams can't match our speed, depth and endurance.

Still concerned about the disappearance of QG.
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In the Wisconsin game, when they were extending that early 2nd half lead, I noticed QG had an uncontested, easy layup, but completely missed it.

I wonder if that were nerves? Play to win, QG, not to lose. I think both he and Ty should have good games Saturday. This team has a lot of depth now, so maybe it will be their time to shine. We'll see.
 
#67      

DeonThomas

DeonThomas
South Carolina
DeonThomas
Grant and Clark are absolutely the key in this one.

-- 94% at the FT line, so we need at least a 10 point lead with 6 min left in the game
-- Superlative defense on our ball handlers, so we had better be prepared for lots of pressure on the ball
 
#68      

CDRUSN

CDRUSN
CDRUSN
Quincy, Ty, and Justin were non-factors against Morehead State. Combined for 6 rebounds, 3 turnovers, and no points on 0 for 6 shooting. Maybe jitters on the big stage, but I think we get much more out of them against Duquesne. Sweet 16 is looking good.
 
#69      

IlliniFaninHoosierLand

IlliniFaninHoosierLand
IlliniFaninHoosierLand
IlliniMike_Aurora said:
do you do weather too! (i kid, thats a pretty good prognostication actually)
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No worries lol. They usually have one of the Eastern time zone sites be the early tip times on Saturday and Sunday. That's why my guess is it's more than likely Charlotte as the early tip time site (especially with UNC and Tennessee there). Pittsburgh is probably less likely just because UK is the only TV draw there. For Sunday, it's more than likely that Brooklyn or Indy get the early games. Brooklyn is the more likely of the two with UConn there and Duke is normally a pretty good draw on TV.
 
#70      

IlliniMike_Aurora

IlliniMike_Aurora
Straight outta Champaign
IlliniMike_Aurora
IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
No worries lol. They usually have one of the Eastern time zone sites be the early tip times on Saturday and Sunday. That's why my guess is it's more than likely Charlotte as the early tip time site (especially with UNC and Tennessee there). Pittsburgh is probably less likely just because UK is the only TV draw there. For Sunday, it's more than likely that Brooklyn or Indy get the early games. Brooklyn is the more likely of the two with UConn there and Duke is normally a pretty good draw on TV.
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after last year, i'm just elated we are playing on the weekend !
 
#73      

Orange Wave

O
Orange Wave
Love the trajectory of this team. Thing I love is we’re playing a much more NBA style this year with our efficiency on O. Only need to get a few stops to come back or open the game up. Recruits, including transfer portal, gotta love that. Goal is to score more points than the other team.

This is coming from someone that will watch a random garbage college game before a middle of the season NBA game.
 
#74      

hoopsfan47

H
hoopsfan47
Paranoid? Speak for yourself fellow Illini fan. I am not the least bit paranoid. It is an indisputable fact proven beyond any doubt over my 76+ years of existence, that the entire world is aligned against my personal interests and those for which I wish success. Indisputable I tell you. So don't call me paranoid!!! It is truth.
 
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