NCAA Tournament March Madness

#79 Illinois St

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Projection: likely out

Illinois State’s profile reads like a middling résumé built on road grit and routine home wins but marred by a couple of ugly setbacks that limit its upside. The best evidence in its favor comes from neutral-site wins over Furman and Charlotte and a genuine road victory at Long Beach State, which show the team can travel and win outside its gym, while comfortable wins over teams like Chicago State and Cornell help the ledger without moving the needle. Those positives are counterbalanced by a heavy neutral loss to USC and road setbacks at Ohio and against Utah State, results that look damaging when compared to the quality of its top wins. The remaining conference slate offers clear pathways to improve with trips to Belmont and Murray State and key home tests against Northern Iowa and other league foes; handling those opponents away from home or on neutral floors would reshape perception, while more losses in those spots would reinforce the committee’s concerns about the severity of earlier defeats.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/6@Ohio191L72-68
11/9Cornell162W76-65
11/14(N)USC39L87-67
11/16@Long Beach St254W82-80
11/23Coastal Car230W94-42
11/27(N)Charlotte193W79-69
11/28(N)Furman153W72-65
12/3E Kentucky265W89-78
12/6Chicago St340W95-53
12/13(N)Utah St32L83-78
12/18@S Illinois121W75-68
12/21Indiana St190W85-65
12/29@Drake151W73-56
1/1Evansville26993%
1/7@Valparaiso20374%
1/10IL Chicago20288%
1/14@Indiana St19072%
1/17Bradley12275%
1/21Northern Iowa9264%
1/25@Belmont7137%
1/28@Murray St9544%
2/3S Illinois12175%
2/6Drake15182%
2/9@Evansville26983%
2/12Valparaiso20388%
2/15@IL Chicago20273%
2/18Murray St9566%
2/21@Bradley12255%
2/25@Northern Iowa9242%
3/1Belmont7159%