NCAA Tournament March Madness

#321 E Illinois

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Projection: need to automatically qualify

Eastern Illinois’s résumé is built on a handful of home victories and a competitive road outing at Valparaiso but those positives are overwhelmed by brutal trips to Notre Dame, Kentucky, Purdue and Iowa State where the team was clearly overmatched. Those damaging losses, combined with an unexpected home defeat to Lindenwood, leave little resume currency despite solid home results against Nicholls State and SIUE. With no signature win over a quality opponent to counter the blowouts at power-conference programs, the remainder of the schedule becomes critically important. Home dates against Tennessee Tech, Tennessee State and Western Illinois and road opportunities at SIUE, Lindenwood and Arkansas Little Rock provide a clear path to repair the résumé, and the team’s standing will hinge on whether it can win away from its home court and avoid further damaging losses in conference play.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/4@Valparaiso209L66-63
11/7Nicholls St223W65-57
11/11@Notre Dame58L78-58
11/14@Kentucky20L99-53
11/25@Cent Arkansas236L81-60
11/28@Purdue4L109-62
12/6Lindenwood234L82-74
12/10E Kentucky268L68-59
12/14@Iowa St3L78-53
12/18SIUE251W76-72
1/1@SE Missouri St22721%
1/3@TN Martin20717%
1/8Tennessee Tech29552%
1/10Tennessee St22940%
1/13W Illinois35373%
1/15@Ark Little Rock31236%
1/22@Southern Indiana33543%
1/24@Morehead St30535%
1/29TN Martin20735%
1/31SE Missouri St22740%
2/5@Tennessee St22921%
2/7@Tennessee Tech29531%
2/10@W Illinois35352%
2/14Ark Little Rock31258%
2/19Morehead St30557%
2/21Southern Indiana33565%
2/26@Lindenwood23421%
2/28@SIUE25123%