Illini Bracketology: Where Is Illinois Projected This Week?

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- With the Michigan State win at Penn State and Rutgers' upset win vs. Maryland on Tuesday night, Illinois has a chance to do something it hasn't done since 2005: Win a share of the Big Ten Conference championship.

Illinois (20-9, 12-6) can win out and guarantee itself a share of the league title. The Illini are also currently forecasted by nearly all of the national projectors with a single-digit seed and most of these projected NCAA tournament fields were published in the last couple of days.

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Here are Illinois’ NCAA tournament resume information as of today:

NET Ranking: 36

Quadrant 1 Record (Home vs. 1-30; Neutral vs. 1-50; Away vs. 1-75): 5-7

Quadrant 2 Record (Home vs. 31-75; Neutral vs. 51-100; Away vs. 76-135): 4-1

Quadrant 3 Record (Home vs. 76-160; Neutral vs. 101-200; Away vs. 136-240): 1-1

Quadrant 4 Record (Home vs. 161-353; Neutral vs. 201-353; Away vs. 241-353): 9-0

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Here are where the Illini are currently projected according to several of the most noteworthy bracket projectors:

Shelby Mast - USA Today - Mast’s operation updates his bracket every morning and currently has the Illini as a 7-seed playing defending national runner-up Texas Tech (18-12, 9-8 in Big 12 Conference) in Albany, New York with Seton Hall as the 2-seed.

NOTE: Since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams, Illinois has only been a 7-seed once in school history and it was their last selection in 2013. John Groce’s Illini team defeated Colorado 57-49 in Austin, Texas before losing 63-59 to 2-seed Miami (Fla.).

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Joe Lunardi - ESPN - Lunardi's newest bracket released Monday morning has Illinois as an 8-seed in Omaha, Nebraska against defending national champion Virginia (21-7, 13-5 in Atlantic Coast Conference) with Kansas as the top seed.

NOTE: Illinois has only been in the 8-9 first-round game twice in school history and has a 1-2 all-time record. The win came as the 9-seed in 2011 when Bruce Weber’s Illini team defeated UNLV 73-62 in Tulsa, Oklahoma before losing in the second round to top seed Kansas, coached by former Illini coach Bill Self, 73-59. The first-round loss came in 1994 as 8-seed Illinois was defeated 84-77 by Georgetown in Oklahoma City, which marked the final collegiate game of Illini all-time leading scorer Deon Thomas. Illinois has never faced Virginia before but did face Cavaliers head coach Tony Bennett as a player. Bennett, while coached by his father Dick, played in Assembly Hall in Champaign against the then-No. 5 Illini on Dec. 23, 1989 where Illinois defeated Wisconsin-Green Bay 71-47.

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Jerry Palm - CBS Sports - Palm released a new bracket projection this morning and has Illinois as a 6-seed in Albany vs. UCLA (18-11, 12-5 in Pac 12 Conference) with Villanova being the No. 3 seed.

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Mike DeCourcey - Fox Sports - In his first year doing bracket projections, DeCourcey has the Illini as a 6-seed playing UCLA.

NOTE: The Illini hasn't played UCLA since 1997 and only twice since 1996.

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Tim Krueger - Stadium - Krueger has Illinois as a 7-seed in Tampa, Florida against Rhode Island (20-8, 12-4 in Atlantic 10 Conference) with Florida State as the top seed.

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