Illini vs. Indiana Preview - We're Leaving Home

Take away the names on the jerseys. If you told most college football fans that a 5-0, top-20 team had a game on Saturday against a team that had lost all four of its games against FBS competition so far this year (including losses to juggernauts Ball State and North Texas), how many would pick against the 5-0 team? Right - no one would; everyone would pick them to win big. But when that 5-0 team is #16 (or #19) ranked Illinois, a team that has left its supporters feeling disappointed so many times over the years, it's somewhat understandable why some people (including people who write for this blog) might feel a little nervous about the Illini's prospects against Indiana on Saturday. While Illini football fans have grown accustomed to nebulous feelings of impending doom, there are actual reasons to feel nervous:

• The trip to the fake Memorial Stadium in Bloomington will mark the first time the Illini have traveled away from Champaign this season, so we don't know how the Illini will react when faced with a "hostile" crowd (hostile being a relative term in this case, since a lot of Indiana fans probably aren't even aware that they have a football team).  
• It's true that the Hoosiers are 1-4 so far this year (the win came against South Carolina State, an FCS school with a losing record).  However, their four losses have been by a combined 19 points.  On the other hand, the Illini have won their last three games by a total of nine points. In other words, the Hoosiers might not be as bad as their record indicates, and the Illini might not be as good as their record indicates. 
• While most of his predecessors have been rather anonymous, first-year Hoosiers Head Coach Kevin Wilson hasn't taken long to show that he's a jackass, but he's a jackass who might have extra motivation to stick it to the Illini. 

So is there legitimate cause for concern regarding Saturday's game?  If the Hoosiers are to spring the upset on Saturday, here are some areas where they might make it happen:

N-I-T!! N-I-T!!

Wow. Playing a team that just got blown out by Iowa and is missing two starters, and we still find a way to lose. And I just love watching other teams' fans rush the court on us. Great job guys! Great job Coach Weber!!

So will we have to travel for our first round NIT game, or can we start at home this time?

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