Iowa, Illinois Likely Headed to NIT

Thursday was a day of highs and a day of lows, depending on your perspective. While teams like Kansas State and Vanderbilt did what they needed, others failed badly. Two of those teams were from the Big Ten; namely Illinois and Iowa.

Illinois had things in their favor heading into their game with Michigan. While the Illini were comfortably resting in their Washington D.C. hotel, the Wolverines were on a 20-hour trip. The team’s plane skidded off the runway Wednesday, resulting in them not arriving until Thursday morning. The game was pushed back slightly, giving Michigan 90 minutes to get ready to play. The team had to wear practice uniforms because their game uniforms were on the first plane.

In spite of all their problems, Michigan came out and took it to Illinois in a 75-55 thumping that knocked the Illini out. With an RPI rating in the upper 50s and a Jeff Sagarin rating in the 60s, Illinois can safely be counted out.

Iowa was in much the same boat, needing a win against Indiana as 2.5-point underdogs. Instead, the Hawkeyes were pounded 95-73, which gives Indiana new hope, but relegates Iowa to the NIT.

The Bracket Project’s Bracket Matrix – a collection of more than 100 projected brackets from all different sources – Iowa and Illinois are on the outside, along with teams such as Illinois State and surprisingly, California despite its 21 wins. The win also didn’t do anything for Indiana, who they still have as being on the outside looking in.

Friday promises more of the same, but on a slightly larger scale. Not only do bubble teams have to win on Friday, they also need to hope that there aren’t any surprises in the smaller conference tournaments and would like to see teams like Middle Tennessee State secure their conference’s automatic bid.