Kenpom has us starting conference play 0-11.
the bar is set pretty low.
Pregame: Illinois vs NC State, Tuesday, November 29th, 8:00pm CT, ESPNU
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the bar is set pretty low.
Our Sagarin is 118 and Loyola is 119 at the moment, so they certainly could be better.
NC State is 6-1. Lost to Creighton, and Loyola is the second best team they've played so far. This is their first true road game. Based on the write-up of the Loyola game, State appears to play defense a lot like we do. No rim defender and Loyola hit more than 50% from 3.
If we play with any intensity, I like our chances at home.
Looking at the rest of the challenge games, it's hard to pick against the home team in too many of these.
Monday, Nov. 28
Minnesota at Florida State
Wake Forest at Northwestern
Tuesday, Nov. 29
Syracuse at Wisconsin
Michigan State at Duke
Pittsburgh at Maryland
Iowa at Notre Dame
Georgia Tech at Penn State
N.C. State at Illinois
Wednesday, Nov. 30
Purdue at Louisville
North Carolina at Indiana
Ohio State at Virginia
Virginia Tech at Michigan
Rutgers at Miami (Fla.)
Nebraska at Clemson
I have the ACC winning 9-5. Of course there are always a few upsets, but I don't see the Big Ten winning this year.
Monday, Nov. 28
Minnesota at Florida State
Wake Forest at Northwestern
Tuesday, Nov. 29
Syracuse at Wisconsin
Michigan State at Duke
Pittsburgh at Maryland
Iowa at Notre Dame
Georgia Tech at Penn State
N.C. State at Illinois
Wednesday, Nov. 30
Purdue at Louisville
North Carolina at Indiana
Ohio State at Virginia
Virginia Tech at Michigan
Rutgers at Miami (Fla.)
Nebraska at Clemson
I have the ACC winning 9-5. Of course there are always a few upsets, but I don't see the Big Ten winning this year.
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
Your picks line up pretty well with KenPom, which overall looks right. I think Duke/MSU will be closer than KenPom's pick and I'll take Northwestern over Wake.
SuperMetroid
- Evanston
Is this a must-win game if we want to make the tournament this year? There aren't a lot of chances left for quality non-conference wins.
I would say almost 100% yes. We probably need to win vs. NC State, VCU, BYU, and Mizzou if Groce's career conf. trend holds up. There is always a chance we catch fire and pull a Purdue conf. W-L, but outside of that we really need to run the table for the rest of the non-conf.
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
Every game against a non-ranked opponent is a must-win game, full stop.
FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
Frustrating to me that the ACC with 15 teams gets to drop one and that one is their bottom rated team, Boston College. How the heck does the statistically better conference also get a pass on their worst team? Some sort of ESPN conspiracy, no doubt
kaptain80
- STL
Yikes, must be a lot of open seats, because they're giving away free tickets to students now: https://www.facebook.com/IlliniAthl...016752.138700.118058841752/10154705272581753/
kaptain80
- STL
I'm going with a 7-7 tie:
Monday, Nov. 28
Minnesota at Florida State
Wake Forest at Northwestern
Tuesday, Nov. 29
Syracuse at Wisconsin
Michigan State at Duke
Pittsburgh at Maryland
Iowa at Notre Dame
Georgia Tech at Penn State
N.C. State at Illinois
Wednesday, Nov. 30
Purdue at Louisville
North Carolina at Indiana
Ohio State at Virginia
Virginia Tech at Michigan
Rutgers at Miami (Fla.)
Nebraska at Clemson
Monday, Nov. 28
Minnesota at Florida State
Wake Forest at Northwestern
Tuesday, Nov. 29
Syracuse at Wisconsin
Michigan State at Duke
Pittsburgh at Maryland
Iowa at Notre Dame
Georgia Tech at Penn State
N.C. State at Illinois
Wednesday, Nov. 30
Purdue at Louisville
North Carolina at Indiana
Ohio State at Virginia
Virginia Tech at Michigan
Rutgers at Miami (Fla.)
Nebraska at Clemson
Joel Goodson
- dawgville
In my estimation, yes. Technically, no, 'cause we could go on a tear in conference. But, realistically, chance of that is very, very low.
Remember when you had to wait in line to get tickets?
I think our dreary attendance will be a big factor in Whitman's decision.
In reference to this game, I think we will keep it competitive and NC State will pull away after the under 8 tv timeout.
illinoisfan11
- Peoria, IL
This is so embarrassing, but at least they're trying to get some people in the seats. I'd love to see a great atmosphere tomorrow night. I was at the Winthrop game, and the atmosphere was brutally bad. I know the kids weren't there because of the holiday, but it was still awful. I miss the days where tickets were a hot commodity.
I'd be shocked if the krush section was full. Even the football games they give students free tickets to are packed
Can't blame them. Most of them probably aren't even old enough to remember when we had really good basketball teams. We've already lost an entire generation of fans on both sides of Kirby.
Haha, I was getting ready to contend what you said, because I thought you said we will pull away after the under 8 TV TO. I was going to say that it was interesting since we usually let the other team pull away after that. :thumb:
I only know that if we win, the posts will read, "We're a tourney team. We've got this thing figured out. 12-6 in conference play predictions". If we lose, the pitchforks will come out and "FIRE GROCE NOW" will fill the boards.
Preseason, i thought this would be our toughest match-up. I wrongly assumed that Groce would be prepared for the WVU press since WVU has been on the schedule for an entire off-season. But, I'm gonna say that God bestows upon Groce some common sense and he plays TJL and DJW more than he has been and he plays Tate, Morgan and Thorne less than he has been.
MY preferred line-up:
TJL
Abrams
Hill
Black
Finke
DJW and JCL getting the bulk of the bench minutes. Mad and Thorne combine for 25 minutes. Tate can play 10 minutes max.
Preseason, i thought this would be our toughest match-up. I wrongly assumed that Groce would be prepared for the WVU press since WVU has been on the schedule for an entire off-season. But, I'm gonna say that God bestows upon Groce some common sense and he plays TJL and DJW more than he has been and he plays Tate, Morgan and Thorne less than he has been.
MY preferred line-up:
TJL
Abrams
Hill
Black
Finke
DJW and JCL getting the bulk of the bench minutes. Mad and Thorne combine for 25 minutes. Tate can play 10 minutes max.
Illinisteve25
- Champaign
Just win! That is all, just win the game. Would hate to have wasted my money on season tickets yet again....
I was thinking of having Hill at the 2nd guard and DJ as WF. We need to try to create mismatches and also need help on defense and rebounding. Love Finke's game, but his lack of speed and rebounded were exploited this weekend. Really have to look at match-ups there will be times when we want Finke over Black. But right now I say we need to close the speed, athleticism, and rebounding gap.
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