NCAA Tournament March Madness

#103 Illinois St

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Projection: likely out

Illinois State’s resume shows signs of a team that can win in hostile settings but also carries blemishes that will be hard to ignore. Neutral wins over Furman and Charlotte and a true road victory at Long Beach State demonstrate the ability to get results away from home, and comfortable home wins over Chicago State and Coastal Carolina fill out the ledger, yet those positives are undermined by ugly non‑conference setbacks at Ohio and a neutral defeat to USC that will linger with the selection committee. Upcoming neutral and road tests against Utah State, Belmont, Murray State, and Northern Iowa are clear chances to transform the profile into something resume‑worthy while home dates such as Belmont and Drake offer safer opportunities to protect it. Until Illinois State turns one of those challenging road trips into a signature victory, the team looks like an improving mid‑major with upside but without a marquee win to erase the damage from its early losses.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/6@Ohio199L72-68
11/9Cornell167W76-65
11/14(N)USC35L87-67
11/16@Long Beach St265W82-80
11/23Coastal Car218W94-42
11/27(N)Charlotte201W79-69
11/28(N)Furman154W72-65
12/3E Kentucky263W89-78
12/6Chicago St358W95-53
12/13(N)Utah St4124%
12/18@S Illinois11743%
12/21Indiana St18581%
12/29@Drake12646%
1/1Evansville28290%
1/7@Valparaiso19864%
1/10IL Chicago20283%
1/14@Indiana St18562%
1/17Bradley12567%
1/21Northern Iowa9859%
1/25@Belmont7428%
1/28@Murray St11242%
2/3S Illinois11765%
2/6Drake12668%
2/9@Evansville28277%
2/12Valparaiso19882%
2/15@IL Chicago20265%
2/18Murray St11264%
2/21@Bradley12545%
2/25@Northern Iowa9837%
3/1Belmont7449%