Illini Face Crucial Stretch

The Illini basketball team is about to embark on a crucial three-game stretch, which you already knew since you read the headline of this blog post. Why is it so crucial? The Illini are ranked in the top 25 and sitting at 4-3 in the Big 10, which looks OK for now, but they still have road games against Purdue, Minnesota, Michigan State, and Ohio State on the docket. There's a good chance the Illini will lose all four of those games, which would leave the team with ten losses (and an 11-7 conference record) even if they won every other game. One more loss in any of the other games - and a team that's capable of losing to UIC, which is still winless in the Horizon League, is capable of losing to any Big 10 opponent - could leave the team needing to win at least one game in the Big Ten Tournament to avoid another bubblicious Selection Sunday.

My point is that if the Illini want to go into the Big Ten Tournament with an NCAA tournament bid locked up, it would behoove them to win the next three games against Indiana (away), Penn State (home), and Northwestern (away). Let's start with Indiana, which will be without Verdell Jones and Maurice Creek against the Illini on Thursday. The Illini are good at playing to the level of their competition. Sometimes that's helpful, sometimes it's not. But it will be tough for the Illini to play down to Indiana's level (10-10 overall, 1-6 in the Big Ten) if the Hoosiers are missing two starters. For the first time since Kendall Gill, Steven Bardo, and Ervin Small roamed the hardwood (1988-1990), the Illini will win a third straight game in the fake Assembly Hall.

Prediction: Illini 70, Hoosiers 60