I think a more likely scenario would be for Purdue to beat Wisconsin and then lose Saturday to Indiana in a let down game. Leaving us in the same tie with Wisconsin.
Pregame: Illinois vs Penn State, Thursday, March 3rd, 6:00pm CT, FS1
- Status
Purdue lost to IU in one letdown game. I don't see that happening twice, but stranger things have happened. Painter has had trouble keeping these guys focused at times.
It would be great if Nebby beat Wisky but it ain't happenin this decade.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I would just assume avoid Purdue, but I would SO much rather earn a share of the Big Ten Championship. Considering we missed it by ONE game in 2020 and then the shenanigans Michigan pulled last year, these players and the staff really deserve that recognition.
As for avoiding Purdue as I mentioned first, they are the only team that ALWAYS scares me. There are multiple Big Ten teams capable of beating us (obviously), but PU is the only team I might expect to beat us even when things are going our way. We seem to bring out the best in them, and they present huge matchup problems for us. No other team, including Wisconsin, OSU, Iowa or anyone else, really seems like a true "road block" to me.
I agree. I'd rather just never see Purdue again. But. I still think there is an outside path to a 2 or 3 seed in Chicago which would require us playing and beating Purdue once more.
1. Wisconsin beats Purdue tomorrow
2. We beat Purdue in the BTT semis
3. Wisconsin doesn't make it to the BTT championship game.
4. We win the BTT championship
In that scenario, I could see us being awarded the best seed in the B1G and getting placed in the Chicago region..which would be advantageous.
To be clear though, I'd rather have a share of the Big Ten regular season title and just keep winning the games in front of us regardless of where we play or what seed we are.
That would be bad Juju.
Retro62
- North Bethesda, Maryland
In bathroom parlance, scUM could wear those shirts.
Dropped to #20
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Brad and/or insiders, if you are reading this ... I beg you to listen to the basketball gods! 
Here is our record by jersey this year:
Regular White: 7-0 (4-0)
Orange Throwback Flyin' Illini: 6-0 (4-0)
White Throwback Script: 3-3 (3-2)
Regular Orange: 5-5 (3-3)
Regular Blue: N/A
At least the white throwbacks with the script font look bada$$! We must retire the regular orange jerseys for the sake of this program. I think we gotta go full 2005 mode and only change jerseys if the other team wears red or something (like Wisconsin and Arizona that year) and otherwise rock the orange Flyin' Illini jerseys from here on out.
I'm not sure if Nike has our hands tied with wearing our regular jerseys every couple of games or if someone on the team loves them, but man ... we have arguably the two coolest throwback jerseys in all of college hoops, and if we are not going to reserve them for special occasions, let's just wear them!
Here is our record by jersey this year:Regular White: 7-0 (4-0)
Orange Throwback Flyin' Illini: 6-0 (4-0)
White Throwback Script: 3-3 (3-2)
Regular Orange: 5-5 (3-3)
Regular Blue: N/A
At least the white throwbacks with the script font look bada$$! We must retire the regular orange jerseys for the sake of this program. I think we gotta go full 2005 mode and only change jerseys if the other team wears red or something (like Wisconsin and Arizona that year) and otherwise rock the orange Flyin' Illini jerseys from here on out.
I'm not sure if Nike has our hands tied with wearing our regular jerseys every couple of games or if someone on the team loves them, but man ... we have arguably the two coolest throwback jerseys in all of college hoops, and if we are not going to reserve them for special occasions, let's just wear them!
Agreed. A regular season title is always more prestigious than a tournament title. I was talking to a couple Tennessee fans and they didn't even care about the regular season championship. They just wanted to win the tournament championship. It blew my mind. Almost anyone can get hot and win 3 or 4 games in a tournament. And almost anyone can have an off night and get knocked out early. But over the course of a whole season, the best team pretty much always wins the regular season.
I think many of us are also taking for granted how good our program will be in the coming years, and expecting to be in this same spot many times. But I looked up Matt Painter's record....he has only won 3 championships in 17 years. Winning a regular season title is very hard and will always be more prestigious in my mind.
Yep. Give me a B1G championship every 4 or 5 years and I'll be happy...as long as we're at least competitive most of the in between years.
On the other hand, Painter has taken Purdue past the Sweet 16 once in 15 years (2020 excluded). I think if I were a Purdue fan, I'd start getting a little restless.
danielb927
Orange Krush Class of 2013
- Rochester, MN
Regarding the bolded — the best team certainly wins the regular season more often than the tournament, but I wouldn’t go as far as “pretty much always”. Look no further than the Big Ten this year, where it’s entirely possible Purdue will lose the regular season title to Wisconsin but win the Big Ten Tourney title. Illinois in 2021 was arguably the same (arbitrary choice of win % over W-L notwithstanding).
KenPom wrote a blog post back in 2010 about the same topic. That year, 18 of 31 conference tournaments were won by the conference’s best team. Regular seasons were better, but not much: 21 of 31.
Would be interested in whether anyone has seen any data over multiple seasons, and perhaps considering shared titles.
Oh, and major disclaimer - as much as I enjoyed the BTT title last year, I would MUCH rather win a regular season championship!
In some cultures you can have both.
I hope that's the kind of culture BU is building here.
Brad and/or insiders, if you are reading this ... I beg you to listen to the basketball gods!
Regular White: 7-0 (4-0)
Orange Throwback Flyin' Illini: 6-0 (4-0)
White Throwback Script: 3-3 (3-2)
Regular Orange: 5-5 (3-3)
Regular Blue: N/A
At least the white throwbacks with the script font look bada$$! We must retire the regular orange jerseys for the sake of this program. I think we gotta go full 2005 mode and only change jerseys if the other team wears red or something (like Wisconsin and Arizona that year) and otherwise rock the orange Flyin' Illini jerseys from here on out.
I'm not sure if Nike has our hands tied with wearing our regular jerseys every couple of games or if someone on the team loves them, but man ... we have arguably the two coolest throwback jerseys in all of college hoops, and if we are not going to reserve them for special occasions, let's just wear them!
That is one stat Brad does not keep, but will tweet it to him
They haven't met us in our prime, without Dorsey officiating, and on a neutral court. I'll take that matchup ... might help if Tonya Harding shows up pre-game in the locker room with Jaden Ivey.
Attachments
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
I like the way you think. A s*x tape might help.
Tonya and Jaden is an interesting pairing. LoL
Gillooly and Eckhardt weren’t available this time around I’m guessing?
Eckhardt has been dead for 15 years, so if he shows up, we all have bigger issues.
I for one don’t think playing in the Chicago region gives this Illini team any advantage. They’ve played much better on the road. (and the refs seem to be less anti Illini away from SFC)
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Eh, always better to have a friendly crowd! The UC is still a road trip for the team, which is the part that I think fires them up.
In close ncaa tourney games the crowd ALWAYS swings to the underdog. As a 2-4 seed potentially, we’re the favorite for at least the 1st weekend. If we (God forbid) play a close game that weekend, it would be nice to have a crowd that won’t turn on us.
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