The Fighting Illini are currently 27-0, and 13-0 in the Big Ten. With the way it looks now they definately have a chance of going undefeated for the regular season. They have three games left against Northwestern, Purdue, and Ohio State and then the Big Ten Tournament. What I want to know is, who is going to be able to stop them in the NCAA Tournament, or will anybody be able to. They will definately recieve a #1 seed, and pretty much have home court advantage, or at least a strong fan base there, with games being played in Chicago, Indy, and St. Louis.

 

They have had some really bad games, and i wouldnt be surprised if they lose one between now and the tournament, but even if they do they should stay atop the list.

 

Illini are a great teamed powered by three great gaurds which traditionaly bodes well come tournament time. The only thing that could stop them is a big team, a team that can dominate inside yet play perimeter defense. North Carolina for example could give them a hard time, but so far they have been lights out and have won on nights where they were playing horrible. Thats the sign of a great team. However they call it March Madness for a reason, I've seen better teams get picked off come tourny time.

 

[Umm...that's an Illinois flag...]

 

We can now add Big Ten Champions to this years accomplishments for the Fighting Illini, after an upset Sun. of Indiana beating Michigan State, the Illini clinch the BT title.

 

Actually the Big Ten title goes to the winner of the conference tournament, they have clinched the number one seed in that tournament.

 

LOL, so your telling me that if Penn State, the last place team in the BT Conference somehow comes through and wins the BT tournament, they win the BT title. Wrong, this is stright from the BT Conference website...

"Illinois Clinches Outright Big Ten Title: With Indiana posting a 78-74 overtime victory over Michigan State on Sunday, Illinois (14-0) won its second consecutive outright Big Ten crown for the first time since 1951-52 and its fourth title in five seasons. Illinois head coach Bruce Weber is also the first coach in Big Ten history to win back-to-back outright championships in his first two years."

 

Umm, yes, if Penn State wins the Big Ten Tournament they are Big Ten Champs and receive the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Illionois won the regular season title, but they get no automatic bid for that.

 

Yup, works the same way in every conference except for one. Although the conferences do use the term "Conference Champions" to describe the #1 team in the regular season, the tournament title is the one that means something.

Brownie points for whoever knows...

and more points for whoever knows the last conference to change from regular season to tournament automatic bid.


Oh, and there are quite a few teams that would crush the illini should they play. Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Connecticut, Duke, North Carolina would all beat them.

Connecticut and NC would blow them out of the water. Come down court, throw over top, rinse/repeat. Connecticut can put out a working lineup that all five players on the court are taller than the tallest Illinois player.

Illinois are the St Joes of this year.

 

News from ChicagoSports.com

Linky

 

No more Perfect Season!

but they should still be at the top of the list

 

Sorry MMR, but that was a great game!

 

that was an Amazing game! man, I havent been so "on the edge of my seat" in a long time... only in college sports

 

Yup, works the same way in every conference except for one. Although the conferences do use the term "Conference Champions" to describe the #1 team in the regular season, the tournament title is the one that means something.

Brownie points for whoever knows...

and more points for whoever knows the last conference to change from regular season to tournament automatic bid.


Oh, and there are quite a few teams that would crush the illini should they play. Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Connecticut, Duke, North Carolina would all beat them.

Connecticut and NC would blow them out of the water. Come down court, throw over top, rinse/repeat. Connecticut can put out a working lineup that all five players on the court are taller than the tallest Illinois player.

Illinois are the St Joes of this year.
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Didn't Illinois demolish Wake earlier this year, not sure I agree with them being this year's St. Joes, although St Joe's finished one game short of the Final Four.

The Pac-10 is the last team to change over to a tournament auto bid and the Ivy League is the only league currently that does not use a tournament to determine its automatic bid.

Connecticut? If they play up to their talent they could beat just about anyone, but they have been up and down all year, Indiana almost beat UConn in Storrs.

 

UConn will be the team to watch in my opinion... they are starting to gel now and they will be a hard team to beat in the tournament

 

Well, one thing we all know for sure is that UNC won't win it all, Roy Williams will find a way to choke.

 

Yeah, I can't believe how the Illini choked in the second half the other night to lose the game. Hopefully, this loss will take the weight of the world off of their shoulders for the rest of the season, so they can go out and do what they do best. I also got a chance to watch most of the duke/unc game yesterday, which also turned out to be a great game. As much as I hate watching duke, I found myself cheering them on at the end of the game to upset unc at home, and I'm still not sure how unc was able to pull that one out of their a??.