Poll: In or out?

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INDIANAPOLIS – For all the jibber-jabber and finger-pointing that shot between the Illinois and Ohio State huddles at Conseco Fieldhouse, one simple fact remained.

Top-seeded Ohio State beat fifth-seeded Illinois 88-81 in double-overtime in a Big Ten tournament semifinal Saturday. Illinois – the definition of a bubble team – will gather today at Ubben Basketball Complex and sweat the CBS Selection Show (5 p.m.) like never before.

"I'm not confident," coach Bruce Weber said. "(But) I think we have a lot of things going for us."

"We're a little nervous," junior Bill Cole said. "But I'm confident we're one of the best bubble teams."

"Bite my nails," Mike Davis said of his plans for the next 24 hours.

Even as Illinois lamented missed opportunities to win in regulation and in the first overtime, bracket experts were torn on the Illini's fate. ESPN.com's Joe Lunardi tagged Illinois as one of his "First Four Out." CollegeRPI.com's Jerry Palm projected the Illini were out, too.

"Given the resumes of other possibilities for the final 4-6 teams, I don't see how Illinois misses at this point," Yahoo! Sports bracket expert Brad Evans countered in an e-mail. "Too many quality wins. They just looked very reputable on national TV against a possible No. 1 seed."

Illinois (19-14) and Ohio State (26-7) didn't like each other in their first two meetings, and the third clash was like a basketball Jerry Springer. To close the first half, Turner got in McCamey's face with a sharp remark, moments after McCamey told Tyler Griffey not to help Turner off the floor. Official Ed Hightower then brought McCamey and Turner together at midcourt to cool the bad blood. All that was missing was a glove pound and a bell.

"There's no friends on the court," said McCamey (team-high 22 points), who's had a rivalry with his former teammate since they were in grammar school. "It's all enemies."

"The refs warned both of the teams multiple times," said Davis (career-high 18 rebounds).

The bad blood spilled into the postgame locker rooms. Ohio State's guys said the Illini did the trash-talking. (He started it!) Illinois said it was mutual.

"When you're beating them, you won't say too much," Turner said.

"When we went on a 20-0 run, that (talk) stopped real quick," David Lighty added.

About two hours after the game, Turner (<@>thekidet) was on Twitter again, tweeting, "Illini fans are so classy," a comment bubbling with sarcasm.

"He's too good of a player (to use trash talk), to be honest. He should just play basketball," Weber said. "That's just my opinion."

The he-said, he-said wasn't as important as Illinois' inability to foul Turner out of the game earlier. He played with four fouls for 14 minutes, 13 seconds, finally earning his fifth foul with one minute left in the second overtime.

"It's tough to play when you can't touch the guy. I don't have anything else to say but that," said Mike Tisdale (10 points). "He's a hell of a player, but it makes it tough when you got some other guys helping him."

Illinois drew up a dynamite play on the final play of regulation, with McCamey splitting two defenders and dishing to Davis for a wide-open look. The shot missed but wouldn't have counted anyway, as it came a split-second after the horn sounded.

"If there's one more tenth of a second on the clock, to me, that's one of the best passes of all time," Cole said.

The one that tickles, however, is how Illinois mismanaged the end of the first overtime. All the Illini could manage was a last-ditch bomb from Cole – and that one left his hand after the buzzer, too.

Really, you could say Illinois' fate was decided on two-tenths of a second – on Friday. That's when Turner nailed a 37-foot buzzer-beater to nip Michigan. If that prayer wasn't answered, Illinois doesn't even to have to deal with Turner's 31 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

"I couldn't be more proud of our kids," Weber said.

Illinois rarely has been a bubble team and isn't used to being in this wobbly position when the bracket is released. The best and most recent example is three years ago, when Illinois slipped in the backdoor to earn a No. 12 seed in the NCAA tournament.

"I think we're a better team this year (than in 2007)," Weber said. "But we haven't proven it consistently enough and that's where the doubt is."

What happened
Evan Turner was stung with his fourth foul with 5:13 left in regulation. Advantage Illinois, right? Not so fast. The crafty junior managed to avoid his fifth personal until one minute remained in the second overtime - 14 minutes, 13 seconds after his fourth. The inability to bench the nation's best player bit Illinois as he finished with an unorthodox triple-double (31 points, 10 rebounds, 10 turnovers) to will Ohio State into today's title game.

What it means
Illinois' stay at the Big Ten tournament was another example how it all comes down to players. Against Wisconsin, Illinois had the best player in Demetri McCamey. But top-seeded Ohio State has a better batch than the rest of the Big Ten. Illinois forced OT in a Big Ten tournament game for the third time in four years (vs. Indiana in 2007, vs. Purdue in 2009), but future professionals David Lighty and William Buford still were too much.

What the Illini said
"I definitely think we're a top-65 team in the nation. We proved ourselves. But that's out of our hands." - Brandon Paul, on their NCAA tournament prospects

What the Buckeyes said
"I would definitely put them in." - David Lighty, if he were on the selection committee

What's next
The NCAA tournament bracket will be unveiled on the CBS Selection Show at 5 p.m. today. If you don't see Illinois - and upsets by Houston, Mississippi State and Minnesota made it a dicey situation - the NIT announcement airs at 8 p.m. on ESPNU. The NCAA sites: Jacksonville (Fla.), Milwaukee, New Orleans, Buffalo (N.Y.), Providence (R.I.), San Jose (Calif.), Spokane (Wash.) and Oklahoma City. The Assembly Hall can't host a first-round NIT game.