Illini Bracketology: Where Is Illinois Projected in NCAA Tournament?
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Practically every NCAA tournament projection expert has No. 5 Illinois as a 2-seed in the upcoming bracket.
Illinois, which is looking to win its eighth game in a row tonight at Michigan State (6 p.m. CST, FS1) is still on pace to end an eight-year absence from the NCAA tournament in a big way.
Illinois has won five consecutive road games during league play (at Penn State, at Northwestern, at Indiana, at Nebraska, at Minnesota), its best stretch since a school record 13-game Big Ten road winning streak from Feb. 3, 2004 through Feb. 19, 2005.
Illinois has seven Quad 1 wins, tied for second-most in the NCAA behind Ohio State (8). The Illini own a combined 11 victories in Quads 1 and 2, meanwhile, tied for third nationally behind Gonzaga and Alabama (12).
Illinois was fourth in the current NET rankings, and No. 5 overall (No. 2 seed) in the NCAA Tournament Committee’s initial ranking of the top 16 teams (released Feb. 13).
Here are Illinois’ NCAA tournament resume information as of today:
NET Ranking: 4
Overall Record: 16-5, 12-3 in Big Ten Conference
Quadrant 1 Record (Home vs. 1-30; Neutral vs. 1-50; Away vs. 1-75): 7-5
Quadrant 2 Record (Home vs. 31-75; Neutral vs. 51-100; Away vs. 76-135): 4-0
Quadrant 3 Record (Home vs. 76-160; Neutral vs. 101-200; Away vs. 136-240): 3-0
Quadrant 4 Record (Home vs. 161-353; Neutral vs. 201-353; Away vs. 241-353): 2-0
Where Illini are Currently Projected According to Noteworthy Bracket Analysts:
Joe Lunardi - ESPN - Lunardi's newest bracket math released Tuesday morning has Illinois as an 2-seed and the No. 5 overall seed. Therefore, the Illini would be projected to play Sam Houston State (17-6, 11-1), which is currently leading the Southland Conference and has a 1-5 record against teams ranked inside the Top 100 of Ken Pomeroy's power rankings. The two teams have never played each other.
NOTE: The No. 1 seed in Illinois' region is Baylor, which defeated the Illini 82-69 in Indianapolis on Dec. 2 and the 7-10 matchup in Illinois' pod is LSU vs. Boise State. The 3-seed in the region is Houston (18-3, 12-3 in AAC).
Shelby Mast - USA Today - Mast’s operation updates his bracket every morning and currently has the Illini as a 2-seed and the No. 5 overall seed playing Sam Houston State. The 7-10 matchup is UCLA and Drake. The last time Illinois played UCLA was in 1997. The last time Illinois has played Drake was in 1955. The 3-seed in the region is Houston.
Jerry Palm - CBS Sports - Palm released a new bracket projection Monday morning and has Illinois as a 2-seed in Indiana Farmers Coliseum vs. Siena (9-3). The 7-10 matchup is Creighton and San Diego State. The 3-seed in the region is Florida State (13-3, 9-2), which currently leads the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Mike DeCourcey - Fox Sports/BTN/Sporting News - In his newest bracket projection of February, DeCourcey has the Illini as a 2-seed vs. Grand Canyon (13-4, 7-1 in Western Athletic Conference). The Illini played at Grand Canyon last year but that was before the Antelopes made the coaching change from Dan Majerle to Bryce Drew. The possible second round matchup in the 7/10 matchup is 7-seed Oklahoma State vs. 10-seed Drake. It would be the first matchup of Oklahoma State since Brad Underwood left the Cowboys program after one season to take the Illini program.
Tim Krueger - Stadium - Krueger has Illinois as a 2-seed against Siena (9-3) in what would be the Saints' first non-conference matchup as MAAC schools declined to be games outside of its conference during the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19 epidemic concerns. This projection is interesting because it potentially matches up Underwood's Illini against 10-seed Loyola (Chicago) as the Ramblers have only played Illinois twice since 2001. The 7-seed is Colorado and represents the opponent who was defeated in the first round by the Illini in Illinois' last NCAA tournament appearance in 2013.