I recently became a lifelong Husker fan.
Pregame: Illinois vs Indiana, Friday, March 11th, 10:30am CT, BTN
- Status
The only way they end up on in the NIT is if they lose to IU.
From what I've seen, 1 more win gets UM in.
I hope Indiana beats UM. Do I think Illini can beat UM? Absolutely. But Indiana is a much better matchup for Illini. Screw revenge and such, and give me the easiest route to a championship — in BTT and NCAAs. No one is going to say, “yeah they won a championship but they had an easy route.” And if the do, screw them because Illini will have championship (s).
It's really difficult deciding who to cheer for in the Indy Mich game.
My dislike for Indy goes back a long long way. Since the days of Robert (I am not calling any old man "Bobby") Knight. It was exasperated in the IDKWTI fiasco.
Then again Howard has been quite the jerk/bully for several years and I don't want to let him win one more game.
In the end I opt for seeing the Bloomington Bloomers.
You take Indiana here in a heartbeat. Besting teams three times in a year is tough. Also the talent level is way higher on that Michigan squad.
I like our chances against either but it won't be a cake walk.
I like our chances against either but it won't be a cake walk.
Some if not many of the forecasters already have them in the dance.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Absolutely. That must be some sort of BT historical season-ending run. A one-win team goes on the road for the final three games. It wins them all, two against ranked opponents and one of those against a team that can win an outright title by simply winning at home.
Even better, the next-to-last place team then proceeds to lose that very evening, and the last-place team, by virtue of its win in their only head-to-head matchup, skips over them to snag the 13th seed.
Beautiful. It sucks to be Minnesota this morning.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Well, as the investment prospectuses note: "past performance is no guarantee of future results."
Michigan looked pretty solid yesterday. They shot lights-out in Bloomington in their only meeting this year, which is why they cruised by ~ 20. Michigan's got something to play for. IU? Perhaps broken and demoralized at this point, tho' they made a good showing in WL on Saturday. They simply can't seem to close out games, even at home.
sacraig
- The desert
Also Kofi absolutely owns Indiana's best player. The matchup advantage makes this a no brainer.
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
I think I'll fall into the camp of "whatever" for the BTT. These kids experienced that last year.
We beat Miznoz, scUM, and swept Iowa to win the regular season title. That makes this a fantastic year already.
If we get bounced in the BTT and get a little extra chip for the Dance.....so be it. Elite 8 or bust this year.
Make a run. Cherry on top of this nutty season.
We beat Miznoz, scUM, and swept Iowa to win the regular season title. That makes this a fantastic year already.
If we get bounced in the BTT and get a little extra chip for the Dance.....so be it. Elite 8 or bust this year.
Make a run. Cherry on top of this nutty season.
sacraig
- The desert
Sure but if a better BTT run helps build momentum or gets us a better seed and path through the NCAA Tournament, then bring me some more hardware!
1989 Still makes me ill.
Homecoming 2019
- Chicago
Securing a 3-seed is a huge deal if our goal is the second weekend and beyond.
ptgrd23
- orange county CA
Always better to win than lose. Two very winnable games IU/Michigan winner will have tired legs and both cannot handle Kofi. IU cannot shoot from outside. Michigan has talent but is very young.
The Rutgers Iowa winer matchup will be more challenging. IA will be on very tired legs (3rd game in 3 days) while Rutgers is playing well. We owe them payback for loss in NJ.
The finals most likely we meet Purdue or Wisconsin. Purdue has been tough matchup since they are only team in B10 that has size to neutralize Kofi. I would like to beat them to get payback for the two losses.
Wild cards
1. Andre is getting closer and closer to his 2020 form. We need him for more than 20 minutes a game.
2. Hopefully Grandison shoulder is OK by Friday.
3. Hawkins had the best game of his Illini career yesterday 37 minutes 9 pts 11 reb 2 blocks. If he can continue this our upside is much higher. See Fr8trn16 twitter above. GREAT DEFENSE!
The Rutgers Iowa winer matchup will be more challenging. IA will be on very tired legs (3rd game in 3 days) while Rutgers is playing well. We owe them payback for loss in NJ.
The finals most likely we meet Purdue or Wisconsin. Purdue has been tough matchup since they are only team in B10 that has size to neutralize Kofi. I would like to beat them to get payback for the two losses.
Wild cards
1. Andre is getting closer and closer to his 2020 form. We need him for more than 20 minutes a game.
2. Hopefully Grandison shoulder is OK by Friday.
3. Hawkins had the best game of his Illini career yesterday 37 minutes 9 pts 11 reb 2 blocks. If he can continue this our upside is much higher. See Fr8trn16 twitter above. GREAT DEFENSE!
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I think this could be very important if there are any more rematches with Purdue. Ivey is a problem and if Hawkins can do to Ivey what he did to Murray that would change the game significantly. I think Ivey is probably faster than either Johnny Davis or Murray so that would be a challenge.
We always do. Except when we don’t.
Illini Store sent email last night with them
drsmitty74
- Rochester
He didn't want to leave. That's what's going on.
sacraig
- The desert
There's certainly that subtext. I just didn't know if we had any more explicit information.
- Status