NCAA Tournament March Madness

#323 E Illinois

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Projection: need to automatically qualify

Eastern Illinois’ résumé is short on signature quality and long on damaging defeats, so their ticket to the big dance depends on winning the Ohio Valley crown. The Panthers have picked up wins over the likes of Nicholls St, SIUE, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee St, including a neutral victory over SIUE and road trips that yielded wins at Southern Indiana and Lindenwood, but those bright spots are overwhelmed by an unforgiving nonconference slate that featured heavy road losses at Purdue, Kentucky, Iowa St and Notre Dame. Conference play has been uneven with harmful losses at SE Missouri St, Cent Arkansas, Morehead St and TN Martin as well as home setbacks that sap the resume further. With the best wins lacking pedigree and the worst defeats coming away from elite opponents, the only clear pathway into the field runs through an Ohio Valley tournament title.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/4@Valparaiso158L66-63
11/7Nicholls St236W65-57
11/11@Notre Dame89L78-58
11/14@Kentucky28L99-53
11/25@Cent Arkansas153L81-60
11/28@Purdue8L109-62
12/6Lindenwood267L82-74
12/10E Kentucky297L68-59
12/14@Iowa St6L78-53
12/18SIUE256W76-72
1/1@SE Missouri St232L68-59
1/3@TN Martin223L65-61
1/8Tennessee Tech315W71-61
1/10Tennessee St187W74-70
1/13W Illinois364W57-55
1/15@Ark Little Rock311L74-63
1/22@Southern Indiana339W59-51
1/24@Morehead St283L73-68
1/29TN Martin223L76-68
1/31SE Missouri St232L77-59
2/5@Tennessee St187L77-68
2/7@Tennessee Tech315W60-54
2/10@W Illinois364L79-70
2/14Ark Little Rock311W78-72
2/19Morehead St283L73-70
2/21Southern Indiana339L70-68
2/26@Lindenwood267W71-67
2/28@SIUE256L77-50
3/4(N)SIUE256W77-71
3/5(N)TN Martin223L66-63