Way to go Illinois!

They got another nice win in the NIT, and this time, they were able to beat a good Kent State team to a bloody pulp. Okay, maybe not, but they did have a nice showing. So did the fans, as more than 10,000 showed up to support their team. The Illini's reward is another home game against the Dayton Flyers. As long as McCamey continues to play at the high level he has become accustomed to playing, and as long as Davis continues producing double doubles, Illinois should be ready to pack their bags New York. I'll break down Dayton a little bit later on.

Let's update the prediction standings. Illinois beat Kent State 75-58 to move on to quarterfinal NIT action. Therefore, they were +17 in the real score difference. After predicting 26 games, here's how things look.

NAME                                  W           L           RSDT*

Tom Young (ILL 73-60)   20          6             192

Reillini (ILL 77-65)           17          9             215

Jshaw (KSU 68-62)        15         10            248

dave1956 (ILL 81-65)     15           8             192

jweeks (ILL 75-68)         11          11            217

PeterE (DNP)                    5             2              51

Jam (DNP)                        1             0               2

illini82 (DNP)                    0              1             11

* - Real Score Difference Total

 

Looking ahead to tomorrow night's game against the Flyers of Dayton...

My Prediction

#1 ILLINOIS 75         #3 DAYTON 61

The Atlantic 10 has been a better conference this year than it has been in the past few. Richmond and Xavier made the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid, Temple made it with an automatic bid (would have made it anyway), while Rhode Island and Dayton made it to the NIT. Xavier is still alive in the Sweet 16, while both Rhode Island and Dayton are still rolling in the NIT quarterfinal. With that being said, Dayton's #3 seed is a bit of a mystery to me. Sure, they finished the season with with 20 wins and handed Xavier one of their two conference losses, but other than that, nothing really sticks out about this team.

First of all, I think another team in their conference should have been given a harder look. St. Louis finished the season with 20 wins, and they also had a 11-5 conference record in this improved Atlantic 10. They also got conference wins against NCAA tournament Richmond, NIT Rhode Island, and they also beat Dayton twice this year. I must not fully understand what goes into selecting these teams for these tournaments, but since St. Louis is currently playing in the CBI, I think they would have accepted an invite to the NIT. I think Rick Majerus and company got screwed.

None of that matters now, as Illinois has to worry about Dayton. Even though I don't understand how they got a three seed, this is still a team that can get some things done. They've lived up to their seeding with nice 81-66 thrashing of Cincinnati on the road. This team has 10 different players averaging at least 4.0 ppg, so they like to get their bench involved. This leads to fresher legs down the stretch, so let's hope the Illini are once again up to the challenge. If so, they will be in the NIT final four and get to play in the giant piece of fruit known as New York.

What do you think will happen? Will Illinois protect this house, or will Dayton be flying to the Big Apple? Let me know your predictions and thoughts below. Let's keep cheering on these Illini, as every additional game is another opportunity for the coaches to teach and the players to learn.

I-L-L...

Stats can be found on IlliniHQ.com