NCAA Tournament March Madness

#243 W Illinois

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Projection: need to automatically qualify

This team’s resume suggests that, without an automatic bid via a conference tournament victory, an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament might be out of reach. With losses to lower-tier programs such as South Dakota and a convincing defeat against UT San Antonio, the case for inclusion based on quality wins is weak. High-profile losses to Illinois and Wisconsin, while somewhat expected, don't help the cause as there are no standout victories to counterbalance. The defensive rankings are respectable, but offensively the struggles are evident, which is further demonstrated by close shaves against lower-ranked opposition in conference play and non-conference struggles. What this team needs is a strong performance in the conference tournament; otherwise, the postseason journey may end before the NCAA tournament kicks off.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/6@UT San Antonio277L78-68
11/8@SMU76L90-53
11/17Southern Univ286W88-80
11/21@Valparaiso285L73-66
11/24@Illinois8L84-52
11/27@Wisconsin19L71-49
12/3South Dakota321L70-68
12/9@WI Green Bay223W68-59
12/20@Cent Arkansas336W65-54
12/31@SIUE294W78-70
1/4SE Missouri St349W68-61
1/6Lindenwood352W68-57
1/11@TN Martin185W73-64
1/13@E Illinois319W63-60
1/20Tennessee St282L58-57
1/25@Southern Indiana340W73-68
1/27@Morehead St103L64-50
2/1@Lindenwood352W79-71
2/3@SE Missouri St349W76-55
2/8Ark Little Rock209L63-60
2/10TN Martin185L62-59
2/15@Tennessee Tech323W62-55
2/17@Tennessee St282W68-61
2/22Morehead St103L78-57
2/24Southern Indiana340W82-76
2/29E Illinois319W70-66
3/2SIUE294W76-65
3/7(N)Tennessee St282W61-59
3/8(N)Ark Little Rock209L82-57