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Statement from Coach Bielema on George McDonald’s departure

bucshon
“As an Illinois graduate and former player, George will always be a part of the Illini famILLy. We wish him, his wife Heather, and boys Roman and Maverick the best. When George made the decision, we immediately started the process to identify the best staff to develop and recruit our Illini student-athletes. The position is a coveted opportunity that received immediate interest from coaches around the NFL and college football. As with any transition, we are excited for the opportunity to improve our program. I-L-L”
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Another game at Wrigley this fall

C
Per Bob Asmussen of the C-U News Gazette, it appears a deal is being worked out to play the NUrds again at Wrigley while their new stadium is being built.

If this is the case, I hope we have another Mikel Leshoure performance.

www.news-gazette.com

Can't Wait For Saturday | CFP contender Kansas playing nothing but road games in 2024

Two homes for the Jayhawks
www.news-gazette.com www.news-gazette.com
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Big Ten Conference announces future basketball scheduling formats

bucshon
ROSEMONT, Ill. – As part of ongoing preparations for the addition of four new member institutions during the 2024-25 academic year, the Big Ten Conference on Tuesday announced details regarding future regular- and postseason competition structures for men’s and women’s basketball.

Beginning next season, both the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament fields will expand to 15 teams (from 14), a format that maintains the five-day schedule of the event, provides access to all teams in contention for postseason invitations, and will maintain a double bye for each of the top four seeds while seeds 5-9 will receive a single bye.

Both the men’s and women’s conference schedules will remain at 20 and 18 contests, respectively, for each school. This allows for non-conference scheduling flexibility, is consistent with peer schedule formats and maximizes opportunities for NCAA postseason berths. Single-play home/away locations will rotate annually, and two-play opponents will be determined with consideration for competitive balance, geography and rivalries.

The 2024 Big Ten Women’s and Men’s Basketball Tournaments will be hosted at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The women’s event begins on Wednesday, March 6, with the championship game scheduled for Sunday, March 10, and airing on CBS for the first time in its history. The men’s tournament tips off on Wednesday, March 13, with the title being handed out on Sunday, March 17.

Fans wishing to purchase all-session tickets within their university’s reserved fan block are encouraged to contact their school’s ticket office. Tickets also are available at the Target Center box office or online at AXS.com.

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WBB Illini defeat Minnesota

bucshon
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois fought back from an 11-point halftime deficit to secure a comeback victory over Minnesota, 73-68, at State Farm Center on Sunday afternoon.

The Fighting Illini trailed by as many as seven in the fourth quarter, though 12 points from Genesis Bryant and nine points from Camille Hobby in the final period of play helped the Orange and Blue snap a two-game skid and return to winning ways.

Illinois outscored Minnesota, 45-29, in the second half, while the Illini won the battle in the paint both in rebounding (36-34) and in points in the paint (36-26).

After scoring two points in the first half, Bryant scored 17 points while playing all 20 minutes after the break en route to a 19-point performance. Bryant knocked down two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter alone, bringing her up to three on the day, while she also dished a season-high seven assists and grabbed five rebounds. Her two blocks tied a career-best mark, and she also recorded one steal.

Hobby scored the first four points of the afternoon and never slowed down, finishing with a season-high 19 points and six rebounds. Hobby shot 80% from the field in the fourth quarter, and her hook shot with 19 seconds to play clinched the victory. Tallying double figures in four of the last five games, Hobby also recorded one steal on the defensive end of the floor.

Makira Cook reached double figures in the second quarter before amassing a team-high 22 points. The Illini outscored the Golden Gophers by seven points in the third quarter, and Cook played a big role in that turnaround with 10 points in that frame alone. Pouring in double-digit points for the fifth game in a row, Cook also notched four assists, three rebounds, and one steal.

Kendall Bostic dominated on the glass once again, accumulating a team-high 17 rebounds to go along with six points. Bostic has now totaled 35 total rebounds over the last two games, and she also dished out a season-high five assists, the second-highest total in her career and her most in a game since the 2021-22 season.

The Illini's first four points of the day came from Hobby, who began 2-for-2 from the field. After the Golden Gophers took a 9-8 lead, the Orange and Blue used a 7-0 run to turn their one-point deficit into a six-point edge. Cook started the team's scoring stretch with a triple before Gretchen Dolan scored the final four points of that run over the span of 93 seconds. Cook's team-high five points in the first quarter gave the hosts a 15-14 edge through 10 minutes of play.

The two sides traded buckets through the first six minutes of the second quarter, with neither team holding more than a three-point advantage during that span. Cook moved into double figures with her second 3-pointer of the day, though the Golden Gophers scored the final 14 points of the first half.

The visitors held a 39-28 lead through 20 minutes. Six Illini scorers tallied at least one field goal, while Cook's 10 points were a team-high mark at the intermission.

Cook knocked down her third 3-pointer early in the second half, which cut the Illini's deficit to single digits. Trailing by 11 points with two-and-a-half minutes, Illinois used a 7-0 scoring run that included Bryant's first triple of the afternoon to cut their deficit to four points. Cook scored 10 points in the third quarter, though the Illini took a 54-50 deficit into the final period of play.

The Golden Gophers extended their advantage to seven points early in the fourth quarter, though the Illini's next seven points came from Bryant to cut the team's deficit to two points. Those seven points sparked a 16-3 run for the Illini, which put Illinois in front by seven points. Hobby and Bryant combined for all 16 points during that stretch, and the Illini never looked back.

The Orange and Blue fought off a late comeback effort from the Golden Gophers. Minnesota cut its deficit to one point with 35 seconds to play, but Hobby's jumper on a feed from Bostic extended the Illinois edge to three points with 19 seconds left on the clock. Cook hit clutch free throws late in the game to seal the win in front of a rowdy State Farm Center crowd.

Illinois (9-10, 3-6 B1G) begins a two-game road trip on Wednesday, when the Illini travel to the Wolverine State for a rematch with Michigan. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. CT on B1G+ from Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.
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NET Quads and Strength of Resume

I
Just thinking if there's an objective metric on how to quickly evaluate Quad 1/2/3/4 wins and losses to give a sense of the strength of a resume for NCAA seeding.

Let me try this and see if you buy it.

Quad 1: Win = +4, Loss = -1
Quad 2: Win = +2, Loss = -2
Quad 3: Win = +1, Loss = -4
Quad 4: Win = 0, Loss = -6

I'll run through the NET Top 20 and see how it maps to BracketMatrix (not fully updated so it won't be perfect...looking at you, UNC)

2. Purdue (40 points) - #1 S-Curve
1. Houston (32 points) - #2 S-Curve
4. UConn (32 points) - #3 S-Curve
11. Wisconsin (28 points) - #6 S-Curve
13. Kansas (22 points) - #8 S-Curve
14. Marquette (22 points) - #9 S-Curve
3. Arizona (21 points) - #7 S-Curve
9. UNC (21 points) - #4 S-Curve
17. Dayton (20 points) - #16 S-Curve
5. Tenn (18 points) - #5 S-Curve
18. Duke (17 points) - #15 S-Curve
20. Utah St. (17 points) - #22 S-Curve
15. Creighton (16 points) - #10 S-Curve
12. Illinois (15 points) - #18 S-Curve
16. New Mexico (15 points) - #27 S-Curve
10. Iowa St. (14 points) - #13 S-Curve
7. Alabama (13 points) - #11 S-Curve
8. Auburn (13 points) - #17 S-Curve
19. Baylor (13 points) - #14 S-Curve
6. BYU (12 points) - #19 S-Curve

I don't have Kentucky (21 NET, #12 S-Curve, 12 points) or San Diego State (23 NET, #20 S-Curve, 16 points) on here but otherwise the Top 20 NET mostly map to Top-5 seeds, just not in the right order.

This metric is probably a better correlation than the NET rankings (especially for the very best teams) but obviously still in need of some tweaks.

The main point is that teams racking up Quad 1 wins will rocket up the S-curve compared to ones that don't, even if they do well with the predictive metrics like KenPom (and sort of NET.)
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