The state of Illinois finally ended its shutout streak in the NCAA Tournament with Northwestern going dancing. Aside from that? It was a somewhat disappointing year. UIC reached the CBI semifinals and Illinois made the NIT quarterfinals, but the state had a legitimate chance to send…
Upstate, Northwestern made the biggest play in program history. Down in St. Louis, Illinois State had its chance to lock up a NCAA Tournament bid but failed to do so. With that, Northwestern is the new No. 1 in this week’s rankings. 1. Northwestern (22-9, 11-7…
We’ve got a conference champion in Illinois for the first time in four years, and suddenly there’s two Big Ten teams from the state on the NCAA Tournament bubble. All that and more in this week’s Illinois Rankings. 1. Illinois State (25-5, 17-1 MVC) Last week: 1…
It’s a big week ahead for in-state teams with some mid-major leagues wrapping up their regular season and Northwestern and Illinois playing Part II of their rivalry. The past week had a few scares for local NCAA Tournament hopefuls, but Illinois State and Northwestern both…
It was an up and down week for Northwestern, which hung on to its No. 1 spot with a huge win over Wisconsin. But Illinois State isn’t far behind after beating up on inferior competition in the MVC. All that and more in this week’s Illinois…
Not a whole lot of good things happened for teams in Illinois last week. In fact, Southern Illinois was the only team to make it out unscathed. But all the losses mean we’ve got some big changes in this week’s Illinois Rankings. 1. Northwestern (18-5,…
We’ve got a new No. 1 in the Illinois Rankings! Yes, Illinois State is still undefeated in the MVC, but Northwestern won more convincingly against better opponents last week. All that and more in this week’s rankings. 1. Northwestern (18-4, 7-2 Big Ten) Last week:…
Illinois has not had a team finish a season in the Kenpom Top 40 since the Illini in 2012-13. Well, with February nearing, the state has two such teams in Northwestern (No. 31) and Illinois State (No. 37). These are pretty exciting times for both programs, and…
What a week in the state of Illinois. Illinois State took control of the MVC with a big win against Wichita State, Northwestern blew people’s minds with a 35-point win against Iowa, and UIC climbed into fourth place in the Horizon League. That and more in…
For the first time this year, we have a new No. 1 team. Northwestern’s reign ended after losing a tight game to Minnesota, and Illinois State took the Wildcats’ vacated spot. That and more in this week’s Illinois Rankings. 1. Illinois State (12-4, 4-0 MVC)…
