NCAA Tournament March Madness

#6 Illinois

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Projected seed: 2

Illinois’ resume reads like a top-tier team because it combines eye-catching wins away from home and on neutral courts with only a few damaging slips. Road victories at Purdue, Iowa and Ohio State and a neutral-site triumph over Tennessee headline a ledger that also features a high-profile nonconference win over Texas Tech. Those peaks are tempered by neutral losses to Alabama and Connecticut and puzzling home defeats to Nebraska and Wisconsin along with a narrow setback at Michigan State that exposed defensive inconsistency. The Illini offense is explosive and performs in hostile environments but the defense leaves some vulnerability, which makes the remaining road tests at USC and UCLA plus a home date with Michigan and a trip to Maryland meaningful chances to cement or imperil their standing.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3Jackson St341W113-55
11/7FGCU245W113-70
11/11Texas Tech17W81-77
11/14Colgate214W84-65
11/19(N)Alabama16L90-86
11/22LIU Brooklyn212W98-58
11/24UTRGV135W87-73
11/28(N)Connecticut8L74-61
12/6(N)Tennessee19W75-62
12/9@Ohio St41W88-80
12/13Nebraska12L83-80
12/22(N)Missouri53W91-48
12/29Southern Univ272W90-55
1/3@Penn St123W73-65
1/8Rutgers160W81-55
1/11@Iowa23W75-69
1/14@Northwestern68W79-68
1/17Minnesota80W77-67
1/21Maryland126W89-70
1/24@Purdue9W88-82
1/29Washington47W75-66
2/1@Nebraska12W78-69
2/4Northwestern68W84-44
2/7@Michigan St13L85-82
2/10Wisconsin30L92-90
2/15Indiana3585%
2/18@USC5078%
2/21@UCLA4272%
2/27Michigan145%
3/3Oregon10197%
3/8@Maryland12693%