NCAA Tournament March Madness

#104 Illinois St

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Projection: likely out

Illinois St sits on the outside because its résumé is built mostly around conference wins over the likes of Belmont, Murray State, and Northern Iowa rather than statement victories on the road or at neutral sites. Its best moments—a road triumph at Murray State and a home win over Northern Iowa—show it can beat quality league rivals, but those are offset by heavy neutral-site defeats to USC and Utah State and an ugly road loss at IL Chicago that expose inconsistency against better competition. The schedule contains few true top-tier scalps and the most damaging results came away from favorable settings, which weakens the team’s case with a committee that prizes road and neutral success. A neutral-site date with Northern Iowa is the clearest remaining chance to change the résumé, but without a signature nonconference or road win Illinois St is unlikely to move inside.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/6@Ohio227L72-68
11/9Cornell168W76-65
11/14(N)USC70L87-67
11/16@Long Beach St247W82-80
11/23Coastal Car229W94-42
11/27(N)Charlotte186W79-69
11/28(N)Furman203W72-65
12/3E Kentucky294W89-78
12/6Chicago St344W95-53
12/13(N)Utah St36L83-78
12/18@S Illinois116W75-68
12/21Indiana St201W85-65
12/29@Drake185W73-56
1/1Evansville305W73-47
1/7@Valparaiso157L77-71
1/10IL Chicago108L63-59
1/14@Indiana St201L94-89
1/17Bradley122W88-62
1/21Northern Iowa76W59-54
1/24@Belmont65L80-69
1/28@Murray St121W70-65
2/3S Illinois116L54-50
2/6Drake185W86-76
2/9@Evansville305L88-80
2/12Valparaiso157W86-64
2/15@IL Chicago108L83-56
2/18Murray St121W78-61
2/21@Bradley122L74-60
2/25@Northern Iowa76W71-69
3/1Belmont65W81-74
3/6(N)Northern Iowa76L74-52