Illinois a head-scratcher

[SelectionSunday]

Illini certainly are living by the Al Davis motto, "Just win, baby."

They've been largely unimpressive for large stretches of their games, yet they're 4-0. CBS has to be licking its chops that its Big 10 game Saturday likely will be for the outright conference lead.

Overall there are at least 5 Big Ten teams I've been more impressed with than the Illini (including Northwestern), but the bottom line is they're finding ways to win. I suspect that trend will come to a crashing halt Saturday in East Lansing.

 

[GortonsFisherman011]

Meh, they've only played the bottom four teams in the conference. I wouldn't put too much stock into that 4-0 record. Actually, I'm surprised that they beat PSU yesterday. PSU should not be an 0-4 team.

 

[Section201]

Let's review...

Let's review what they have done so far...

Beat Northwestern (1-2) at home by 6
Beat Iowa (0-4) at home by 17
Beat Indiana (1-2) away by 6
Beat Penn State (0-4) at home by 1

Good news is so far is they have won the games they should have won. Bad news for them is their schedule is going to toughen up significantly!

 

[josh087]

Both BT games didn't go the Gophers way last night. In the later game it seemed both teams and the crowd at @ss hall looked like the game didn't even matter - and then Ill gets a couple 3's from McCamey and a couple of Talor Battle misses to pull it out. Sickening. If Ill would have lost the last two games their season would be on life support. We can't afford to rely on teams falling apart the way they did last year around the country in order to sneak out a bid.

 

[Blizzard]

Both BT games didn't go the Gophers way last night.

Why wouldn't Ohio St over Purdue be a positive for the Gophers?

 

[inflectionpoint]

Meh, they've only played the bottom four teams in the conference. I wouldn't put too much stock into that 4-0 record. Actually, I'm surprised that they beat PSU yesterday. PSU should not be an 0-4 team.

I was hoping they were going to lose last night. Really would have put Illinois on the tournament ropes. Bummer.

Also for all the momentum the PSU bball team has built in the past couple years it would be a shame to see it (fan-wise) all evaporate this year.

 

[Section201]

I think it is..

Why wouldn't Ohio St over Purdue be a positive for the Gophers?

I think it is because we are more likely being in a position of competing with OSU for a tourney bid than with Purdue. Although Purdue has lost two now I bet the concensus is they are still in the top 3 whereas OSU and the Gophers are considered second-tier to middle of the pack.

In that world it is better for the Gophers if OSU loses.

 

[station19]

I think it is because we are more likely being in a position of competing with OSU for a tourney bid than with Purdue. Although Purdue has lost two now I bet the concensus is they are still in the top 3 whereas OSU and the Gophers are considered second-tier to middle of the pack.

In that world it is better for the Gophers if OSU loses.

+1

 

[SelectionSunday]

I'd have preferred The OSU lose

"Why wouldn't Ohio St over Purdue be a positive for the Gophers?"

I'm with Josh on this one.

Generally speaking, as a Big 10 season starts taking shape, I never want teams most similar to the Gophers (at this point that would be Illinois, Northwestern & Ohio State) to beat one of the big boys (at this point that's MSU, Purdue & Bucky). That's now a notch on the Buckeyes' resume that we don't have.

If we end up in a mosh-pit of bubble teams that includes the likes of Illinois, Northwestern & Ohio State, I certainly want the Gophers to have in their back pocket a win or two vs. the top teams in the league. After last night, The OSU already has one of those (and it was on the road to boot), the Gophers, Illinois and Northwestern do not.

 

[Blizzard]

I think it is because we are more likely being in a position of competing with OSU for a tourney bid than with Purdue. Although Purdue has lost two now I bet the concensus is they are still in the top 3 whereas OSU and the Gophers are considered second-tier to middle of the pack.

In that world it is better for the Gophers if OSU loses.

Makes sense.

 

[josh087]

Thanks for the backup SS. I didn't want to go into the full explanation of why I would have preferred a Purdue win - but I knew you probably would

Also RPI speaking, I would have prefered Purdue stay as high as possible - as we all know as long as you play teams with high RPI it almost doesn't even matter whether you win or lose the game. We need Mich St. & Purdue to remain dominent over BT foes to keep up their RPI as high as possible (except beating MN, of course).

 

[SonOfTheVarsity]

At this point, I don't think we have to worry too much about resume comparison. Really, I think if we win 11 conference games (and maybe one in the tournament), then we will get in the tournament, regardless of who those wins come against. Or, in this case, what other conference teams are doing.