Shocked Oregon just quit after they had some momentum from the UW win.
Just shows Maryland is kind of figuring it out this last week.
Just shows Maryland is kind of figuring it out this last week.
Week of 3/9 Games Thread
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That forklift ain't gonna drive itself.
Just a note to say thanks so much for typing all this out. I am so grateful for all these to give me an Illini rooting interest. Appreciate your time FotN!The first day of somewhat interesting conference tournament games!! Here's my crack at a rooting interest guide, however forced!
Baylor vs. Arizona State - 11:30 am on ESPN Plus ... ASU currently up by 13 in the first half. Not sure we really care who wins other than we'd want it to be the team with the better chance of knocking off Iowa State tomorrow. Given ASU's propensity to pull off upsets this year, I guess that is them!
Oregon vs. Maryland - 4:00 pm on Peacock ... This one doesn't really matter to us, but it's worth noting that Maryland is currently #151 in the NET Rankings, and if they were to somehow wind up at #135 or above, our win in College Park would become Quad 2. That almost certainly won't happen, but Oregon winning serves us pretty much no purpose, either.
Kansas State vs. BYU - 6:00 pm on ESPN Plus ... The only reason this game might remotely matter is these teams have a path that goes through West Virginia and then Houston on Thursday. A Houston loss is very important for us, so we want the best team of those three to make it to Thursday to make that hopefully happen. For me, that's pretty easily BYU, regardless of their struggles.
Penn State vs. Northwestern - 6:30 pm on Peacock ... Northwestern is clinging to its #70 NET Ranking, which gives us a Quad 1 win in Evanston and a Quad 2 win in Champaign. If NU falls to #76 or worse, those both shift down a category each. If NU can just get past PSU and not get obliterated by Indiana (I wouldn't assume an Indiana win at all, just saying), they should finish inside the top 75.
Santa Clara vs. #12 Gonzaga - 8:00 pm on ESPN ... The Zags are still the top #4 seed on the Bracket Matrix, and it seems people are content on moving them right back up the pecking order as long as they give them an excuse to do so! Lol ... not hard to imagine a scenario where the teams above Gonzaga cannibalize each other this weekend, and the Zags get rewarded. While Santa Clara is a solid team (#38 NET), I think a 4th loss by Gonzaga today would kill any glimmer of hope they have moving up the seed lines.
The really big games for us will start tomorrow. Personally, I'll be rooting hard for an Iowa win, as I think they will have the best fighting chance to get hot and shock Michigan on Friday. Iowa State will also play at 11:30 am tomorrow, and a Cyclones loss would be huge for us.
Remember back in 2018 when we were getting drilled by Iowa in this same round of the BTT? I do.
And now we aren't playing for two more days. I'll never stop appreciating that and hoping we make another great run in the BTT or NCAAs like 2023. Let's go Illini.
And now we aren't playing for two more days. I'll never stop appreciating that and hoping we make another great run in the BTT or NCAAs like 2023. Let's go Illini.
Want NW to win. Not in the mood to see us lose another Q1 win (a la USC).
Is there a cylinder rule anymore, my toddler was doing what they do when Hummel was talking about it.
Phenomenal game for Dybantsa.
Would like them to get up to the 5-6 line. Not a 7 I’d prefer to see in round of 32.
Pro tip: If Illinois get a St. Louis pod, they can't get BYU as a round of 32 opponent.
I think I'd be in the camp of welcoming to draw BYU. Not a good rebounding team and horrible defensively.
And while Dynbasta is world-class, it's the guards in pick and roll who create for themselves and others i dislike.
I also think their record against any top 30 Kenpom team is very poor, outside of the Iowa State result 2 weeks ago.
And while Dynbasta is world-class, it's the guards in pick and roll who create for themselves and others i dislike.
I also think their record against any top 30 Kenpom team is very poor, outside of the Iowa State result 2 weeks ago.
The last leg of my +1106 parlay is riding on NW holding on to win. This game is really gross for how locked in am I on it 
There was a pretty significant analysis done about ball use and unders hitting in the tournament making the rounds on the internet a couple of years ago (or maybe suggesting if the game is 50/50 which way to lean).
Huh, Jaden Schutt is on a bottom tier ACC VT team. How about that.
The last leg of my +1106 parlay is riding on NW holding on to win. This game is really gross for how locked in am I on it
Bang!
Gonzga losing at half to Santa Clara.
Not sure how likely they fall there… but if we can get Gonzaga as a 6 seed, that’d be a home run IMO. They can upset the 3. Mark Few has lived in the S16.
That’s right. Gotta’ love it.
BillyBob1
- Champaign
Think back to all those recruits that we had to have , went elsewhere, and didn’t live up to expectations.
Epsilon
M tipping over
- Pdx
Pretty exciting game rn
wettsten
- Chicago
yeah, but those schools don't have Fletch. so who knows what could have happened...?
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