Very uncertain whether Illannoy will make the NCAA field; their chances may come down to ddoing well in the BT tournament. While they are 4-2 at the moment, that is because they have played 4 home games, and while they eaked out a narrow win over NW, the other wins are against the three bottom-feeders Indiana, Iowa, Penn State (a one-point win at home).
They face probable home losses to MSU & OSU, very lilely to Minnie & Wisky. Only one home win probable, vs IU. The road schedule is not favorable: probable losses at Purdue, Wisky, OSU, a likely loss at NW, Michigan another--and a win is not a sure thing at either State College or Iowa City. A 9-9 record seems to be the max outcome for the 2009-10 BT season. Illannoy played a relatively weak OOC schedule, with the only major win at Clemson, offset by five losses to Utah, Bradley, Georgia, Mizzou and the only "good" loss to mid-major Gonzaga on the Illannoy home court. Illannoy pretty much has to beat out Minnie, NW & Michigan to finish 5th in the BT and have much chance of getting an NCAA bid.
The fatal paradox for Illannoy is that the forwards and center--Cole, Tisdale, Davis--are juniors, and only Cole plays anything close to respectable defense. The only real alternative is freshman Griffey, who hasn't been impressive so far. They have a tall, skinny kid coming in next year with a lot of hype but who has only played small-time competition. Little prospect that things will be all that much better next year. Even this year, when only Purdue of the BT schools has a big-time center, Illinois can't stop opponents from scoring inside; next year, with NW, Minnie, Wisky, OSU, MSU, Iowa all stronger in the front court, Illannoy will have its problems making the top half of the BT even with a lot more help outside (where it ism't much needed).
