Pregame: Illinois vs Northwestern, Tuesday, February 21st, 7:00pm CT, BTN

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#51      

Illiniaaron

I
Geneseo, IL
Illiniaaron
jrichisamazing said:
I've said it before, but this year with the B1G being down it really isn't far-fetched to say this. Is it likely? NO.

Just have to avoid Wisconsin, Maryland, and Purdue.
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In general I would agree, but it's likely that Illinois will have to play on day one of the tourney. That extra round makes it much less likely for a last-place team or a team near the bottom to win the conference tourney in my humble opinion. Those teams are just too gassed when it comes to Saturday and Sunday games.


I predicted a 15 point Wildcat win a couple of weeks ago, so I hope this prediction is just as bad. As exciting as it has been to see the Illini win two road games in a row, they have been terrible at home lately. I see the pattern continuing and a ten point NW win.
 
#53      

Jkat00

Jkat00
Champaign, IL
Jkat00
Dan said:
[YOUTUBE]aVOmVWOFjuc[/YOUTUBE]
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200w.gif
 
#55      

CARPET

C
CARPET
Dan said:
[YOUTUBE]aVOmVWOFjuc[/YOUTUBE]
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I can't find one thing Inspirational about this ladder theme.

If you look closely there are only two more rungs on the ladder left before reaching the top. (Then what) ?
 
#56      

breadman

B
Herndon, VA
breadman
Can we please get rid of this goofy ladder thing? Thank you. Play the game. Win the game. No more. No less!
 
#57      

EfremWinters84

E
S. Carolina
EfremWinters84
EfremWinters84 said:
Here are my way-too-early scoring predictions for the season:

17 Hill
12 JCL
9 Thorne
8 Black
6 Finke
6 Morgan
5 AJ
5 Abrams
4 DJW
3 Lucas
2 All Others
----
77 Total points per game (a rather lofty total)

I hope Lucas surprises me and ends up being a double digit scorer. I'm really anxious to see who's going to step up this year. Go ILLINI!
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Thought it might be a good time to compare projections to actual PPG after 27 games played. Actual season-to-date numbers are below:

MH - 17
MM - 10
JCL - 8
TA - 8
LB - 8
MF - 7
MT - 5
TJL - 5
KN - 5
Oth - Negligible

Team Total = 73
 
#58      

EfremWinters84

E
S. Carolina
EfremWinters84
Biggest Surprise = Kipper, who didn't even make my list; with a 2nd place finish to MM

Biggest Disappointments = MT and JCL (however I still like JCL's play of late!)
 
#59      

cam

C
cam
WesterveltVictoryCigar said:
We also added Black and Thorne which went a long way towards fixing a major weakness from last year, rebounding. I don't think many people were expecting a Big Ten contender, but perhaps a middle of the pack NCAA caliber team. That's a very low bar for year 5, not "wildly optimistic" or "overly high expectations".
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Unfortunately Thorne hasn't been able to contribute all year due to injury, he isn't close to what I hoped for. Abrams hasn't been close to what we had hoped for due to injury also. Groce hasn't won enough games but I was hoping for big things out of both of those guys and we just haven't gotten it
 
#62      

cam

C
cam
Big game tonight! We get this one it could get interesting. I hope we have a good , loud crowd.
 
#63      

Illiini

Illiini
In the land of the Nittany Lion
Illiini
Ten years ago today, Illinois beat Michigan 54-42 at a home game played at the Assembly Hall. More than just a home game, it was the last home game of the 2006-2007 season.

And as such, it was also Chief Illiniwek's last dance as an official symbol of the University of Illinois. Coincidence? I think not.

:hailtotheorange:
https://youtu.be/Oq4KpDhFZVM
 
#64      

FollowTisdale

F
FollowTisdale
I say this every time, but it works so might as well keep going.

John Groce is not a good coach, and he hasn't won back to back regular season big ten games since March 2015. I don't see that stopping now.

It would be so fun to see Northwestern flop and miss the tournament. Just not going to be this game...

NW 74 - IL 68
 
#65      

cam

C
cam
FollowTisdale said:
I say this every time, but it works so might as well keep going.

John Groce is not a good coach, and he hasn't won back to back regular season big ten games since March 2015. I don't see that stopping now.

It would be so fun to see Northwestern flop and miss the tournament. Just not going to be this game...

NW 74 - IL 68
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I certainly hope you are wrong. I feel like we win tonight , real excited to have Lucas becoming a good point guard and I think that changes this team. Lets hope so!
 
#66      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
Groce is fully gone, IMO. It should be in every fan's best interests to go into next season with confident freshmen and a situation that looks more than fixable to a confident and competent replacement coach. Plus, let's have some irrational pride here: no matter how good they are, we do not let Northwestern march into SFC and walk away with a win.
 
#67      

LurkLongandProsper

L
C-U
LurkLongandProsper
FollowTisdale said:
I say this every time, but it works so might as well keep going.

John Groce is not a good coach, and he hasn't won back to back regular season big ten games since March 2015. I don't see that stopping now.

It would be so fun to see Northwestern flop and miss the tournament. Just not going to be this game...

NW 74 - IL 68
Click to expand...

Northwestern is as close to a lock as you can get at this point, dropping a game on the road to us doesn't really change a whole lot for them. Their worst case scenario for the rest of the regular season still nets them a better resume than we would in our best case scenario, and by a decent margin. Odds are very, very high that NU makes it this year. Good for their fans.

I'm interested to see how this game plays out now that Lindsey is back for them. He didn't play great against Rutgers, but he's definitely a factor.
 
#68      

Decaturman

D
Decaturman
Well im going to the game tonight and since ive never seen Illinois lose at home since its become the state farm center lets hope my luck continues
 
#69      

IlliniSox

I
Minneapolis, MN
IlliniSox
Illiini said:
Ten years ago today, Illinois beat Michigan 54-42 at a home game played at the Assembly Hall. More than just a home game, it was the last home game of the 2006-2007 season.

And as such, it was also Chief Illiniwek's last dance as an official symbol of the University of Illinois. Coincidence? I think not.

:hailtotheorange:
https://youtu.be/Oq4KpDhFZVM
Click to expand...


I was there (up in C section)! I remember reading that there double the normal number of media credential requests that night, and I'm sure most were just for the halftime performance.

Ten years later and that video still gives me chills. Loved the little twist that Dan added at the end.
 
#71      

ILLHangOut

I
ILLHangOut
LurkLongandProsper said:
Northwestern is as close to a lock as you can get at this point, dropping a game on the road to us doesn't really change a whole lot for them. Their worst case scenario for the rest of the regular season still nets them a better resume than we would in our best case scenario, and by a decent margin. Odds are very, very high that NU makes it this year. Good for their fans.

I'm interested to see how this game plays out now that Lindsey is back for them. He didn't play great against Rutgers, but he's definitely a factor.
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First of all, let me preface this by saying I think our only shot at the tourney is winning the BTT. This post is certainly not trying to hypothesize a plausible scenario of us getting an at large bid...

With that said there is a small chance we end up with an equivalent RPI as them (61) if we go 3-1, and they go 0-4 according to RPI Forecast. I'd be very curious to see what the committee does with NW at that point.

If we are at out does that mean they're out too?

In this case, we'd have similar RPI, better SOS, and beaten them twice. We'd also have a better record vs top 50 RPI teams.

Northwestern would most likely end up 4-9 vs top 50, and 6-4 vs 50-100. We'd be 5-8 vs top 50, and 4-5 vs 50-100. Both teams would be 100% vs sub-100 teams.

http://www.rpiforecast.com/teams/Northwestern.html
http://www.rpiforecast.com/teams/Illinois.html

So, the silver lining could be a sweep today sabotages their resume :illinois:
 
#72      

FollowTisdale

F
FollowTisdale
LurkLongandProsper said:
Northwestern is as close to a lock as you can get at this point, dropping a game on the road to us doesn't really change a whole lot for them. Their worst case scenario for the rest of the regular season still nets them a better resume than we would in our best case scenario, and by a decent margin. Odds are very, very high that NU makes it this year. Good for their fans.

I'm interested to see how this game plays out now that Lindsey is back for them. He didn't play great against Rutgers, but he's definitely a factor.
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Yea I know, they're pretty much in. But maybe if they skid in their last 4 and bow out in round one of the BTT, they'll miss. I find myself rooting for all Big Ten teams in the tourney once they're there, but I can't bring myself to root for Northwestern. I had a roommate in college that was from Evanston and had to root for them obnoxiously even though we were at U of I; I want them to lose every game they play.

Plus, that north side of Chicago is getting a little too uppity for my tastes. They can't have a world series and successful college teams.
 
#73      

ILLHangOut

I
ILLHangOut
ILLHangOut said:
First of all, let me preface this by saying I think our only shot at the tourney is winning the BTT. This post is certainly not trying to hypothesize a plausible scenario of us getting an at large bid...

With that said there is a small chance we end up with an equivalent RPI as them (61) if we go 3-1, and they go 0-4 according to RPI Forecast. I'd be very curious to see what the committee does with NW at that point.

If we are at out does that mean they're out too?

In this case, we'd have similar RPI, better SOS, and beaten them twice. We'd also have a better record vs top 50 RPI teams.

Northwestern would most likely end up 4-9 vs top 50, and 6-4 vs 50-100. We'd be 5-8 vs top 50, and 4-5 vs 50-100. Both teams would be 100% vs sub-100 teams.

http://www.rpiforecast.com/teams/Northwestern.html
http://www.rpiforecast.com/teams/Illinois.html

So, the silver lining could be a sweep today sabotages their resume :illinois:
Click to expand...

Btw, I think this argument still holds if we go 4-0, and they go 1-3. Both of our RPIs are forecast to be 50 instead of 61 in that scenario.
 
#75      

Illiini

Illiini
In the land of the Nittany Lion
Illiini
IlliniSox said:
Ten years later and that video still gives me chills.
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If it leaves you with a dry eye, you're not a member of the Illini Nation. With a new president and a new chancellor and a Peoria tribe that in the past has been willing to cooperate, can't there be a revival of the Chief?

OK, enough now. Back to your regularly scheduled Northwestern bashing. :thumb:
 
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