Purdue
Illinois
Wisconsin
Michigan State
Ohio State

That's it. Maybe Nebraska has a chance.

You'd kind of figure teams like Maryland, Michigan, Iowa, and Indiana would be contenders but they are having really bad seasons so far.

I know we're still dealing with a lot of uncertainty with our team right now but we're in way better shape than a lot of these teams. I hope we can make the most of it.

If we beat Purdue on Friday we'd be the favorite in every single remaining game on our schedule.

I know it’s early but it seems like this is a viable path for us to reload.

Bryce Hopkins at Providence tore his ACL and is out for the season. I think there were rumors he could be a transfer back to Illinois. Not sure how this affects things but clearly there will be some recovery for him.

Seems like he is not getting enough playing time. I hope he doesn't transfer out. I enjoy watching the dancing bear in action.

So, Illinois is still good.

Illini roll Northwestern by 30 points 96-66.

Marcus Domask 32 points. Justin Harmon couldn't miss, scores 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting and 4-for-5 from three.

We do have a ride open and we've been adding players between semesters in past seasons.

Usually these are guys that don't play in the second half of the season but I'm curious if there's any sense that the staff is trying to add someone or if they are happy to wait for the season to be over.

Story from the Sun Times.

KenPom doesn't know about the suspension and has us as 10 point favorites tonight. Vegas says 5.5. So let's assume TSJ is worth 4.5 ppg. What does that do to our season projections?

As of right now, we're projected to go 14-6 in the Big Ten. We have 1 win and in the next 19 games we're expected to have 12.96 more wins. That projects to something like a 3 seed.

If I lower the predicted margins on every game by ~4.5 points, that puts us at 10.52 wins in the next 19 games, so either an 11-9 or 12-8 conference finish. That projects to something like a 7 seed.

So we've likely gone from a T-2 finish in the Big Ten, a 3 seed, and a likely Sweet 16 run to a 5th place finish in conference, a 7 seed, and a likely R32 loss.

It's a blow but it's not program-defining like I had feared. Just really a bummer because we need that Sweet 16 and we were on track.

If TSJ were to somehow return on Feb 1st, then the impact is not too bad and maybe we can still make that run.

Anyway, that's what an All-American is worth.

In the poll. Despite TSJ out.

Both get a 3-star (5.6) ranking from Rivals.
'
The Illini recruiting class is now ranked No. 40 overall and No. 11 in the Big Ten.

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Nico Moretti still listed as out on the Big Ten availability report.

Friday, Dec. 22​

Gasparilla Bowl
Georgia Tech vs. UCF
Tampa, Florida
6:30 p.m. | ESPN

Saturday, Dec. 23​

Birmingham Bowl
Troy vs. Duke
Birmingham, Alabama
12 p.m. | ABC

Camellia Bowl
Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois
Montgomery, Alabama
12 p.m. | ESPN

Armed Forces Bowl
Air Force vs. James Madison
Fort Worth, Texas
3:30 p.m. | ABC

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Georgia State vs. Utah State
Boise, Idaho
3:30 p.m. | ESPN

68 Ventures Bowl
Eastern Michigan vs. South Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
7 p.m. | ESPN

Las Vegas Bowl
Northwestern vs. Utah
Las Vegas, Nevada
7:30 p.m. | ABC

Hawai'i Bowl
San Jose State vs. Coastal Carolina
Honolulu, Hawai'i
10:30 p.m. | ESPN

Tuesday, Dec. 26​

Quick Lane Bowl
Bowling Green vs. Minnesota
Detroit, Michigan
2 p.m. | ESPN

First Responder Bowl
Texas State vs. Rice
Dallas, Texas
5:30 p.m. | ESPN

Guaranteed Rate Bowl
Kansas vs. UNLV
Phoenix, Arizona
9 p.m. | ESPN

Wednesday, Dec. 27​

Military Bowl
Tulane vs. Virginia Tech
Annapolis, Maryland
2 p.m. | ESPN

Duke's Mayo Bowl
North Carolina vs. West Virginia
Charlotte, North Carolina
5:30 p.m. | ESPN

Holiday Bowl
No. 15 Louisville vs. Southern Cal
San Diego, California
8 p.m. ET | FOX

Texas Bowl
No. 20 Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M
Houston, Texas
9 p.m. | ESPN

Thursday, Dec. 28​

Fenway Bowl
No. 24 SMU vs. Boston College
Boston, Massachusetts
11 a.m. | ESPN

Pinstripe Bowl
Rutgers vs. Miami (Fla.)
The Bronx, New York
2:15 p.m. | ESPN

Pop-Tarts Bowl
No. 18 NC State vs. No. 25 Kansas State
Orlando, Florida
5:45 p.m. | ESPN

Alamo Bowl
No. 12 Oklahoma vs. No. 14 Arizona
San Antonio, Texas
9:15 p.m. | ESPN

Friday, Dec. 29​

Gator Bowl
No. 22 Clemson vs. Kentucky
Jacksonville, Florida
12 p.m. | ESPN

Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl
No. 16 Notre Dame vs. No. 19 Oregon State
El Paso, Texas
2 p.m. | CBS

Liberty Bowl
Memphis vs. Iowa State
Memphis, Tennessee
3:30 p.m. | ESPN

Cotton Bowl
No. 7 Ohio State vs. No. 9 Missouri
Dallas, Texas
8 p.m. | ESPN

Saturday, Dec. 30​

Peach Bowl
No. 10 Penn State vs. No. 11 Ole Miss
Atlanta, Georgia
12 p.m. | ESPN

Music City Bowl
Auburn vs. Maryland
Nashville, Tennessee
2 p.m. | ABC

Orange Bowl
No. 5 Florida State vs. No. 6 Georgia
Miami Gardens, Florida
4 p.m. | ESPN

Arizona Bowl
Wyoming vs. Toledo
Tucson, Arizona
4:30 p.m. | CW Network/Barstool

Monday, Jan. 1, 2024​

ReliaQuest Bowl
No. 13 LSU vs. Wisconsin
Tampa, Florida
12 p.m. | ESPN2


Citrus Bowl
No. 17 Iowa vs. No. 21 Tennessee
Orlando, Florida
1 p.m. | ABC

Fiesta Bowl
No. 8 Oregon vs. No. 23 Liberty
Glendale, Arizona
1 p.m. | ESPN

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 4 Alabama
Pasadena, California
5 p.m. | ESPN

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Sugar Bowl
No. 2 Washington vs. No. 3 Texas
New Orleans, Louisiana
8:45 p.m. | ESPN

Monday, Jan. 8​

College Football Playoff National Championship Game
Houston, Texas
7:30 p.m. | ESPN

Here's what I have so far for 2022 class.

The weekend of June 4th will be huge.

I'm getting the official visit date report pinned in the top line menu under "Football" so it will be available to you at all times.

ILLINOIS OFFICIAL VISITS

Its time boys and girls for the sleeping giant to awaken,


cliff notes … money all around to all sports … men’s and women.. but specifically when they say top tier, that means the big 2 now .. what a time to be in the big ten …. SMU is about to blow up as well

I mean this sincerely. You guys are by far the most sensible and intelligent message board community in the Illini media.

Happy New Year. Wishing all of you a wonderful 2024.