March Madness: Where Illinois team's NCAA Tournament resumes stand entering the regular season's final week
CHICAGO, Ill. - This is March. Plan accordingly for the NCAA Tournament if you're Illinois and Northwestern.
Those two aren't the only ones that have the Big Dance on their minds.
Here's how the resumes for the top Illinois schools stack up ahead of the final week of the regular season.
Illinois - Squarely In
When the NCAA Tournament's selection committee unveiled its first bracket with its top 16 seeds, Illinois was in that top 16.
That all puts the Illini in the tournament as a No. 5 seed or higher, which could improve by leaps about bounds with a lengthy Big 10 Tournament run next week in Minnesota.
Right now, Illinois is seeded as the No. 4 seed in the West Region in Salt Lake City against automatic-qualifier Samford. No. 5 seed BYU is on the other side of that bracket.
If Illinois makes a deep conference tournament run, that No. 4 seed could rise to a No. 3 seed, however it would be difficult to knock the likes of Creighton, Kansas, Baylor or Duke out of the No. 3 seed line.
Northwestern - Comfortably In
The Wildcats might not be a top-16 seed like Illinois is, but at this point their resume is as polished as you'd like to see if you're a Northwestern fan.
ESPN's Bracketology has the 'Cats listed as a No. 8 seed in Memphis, at the moment. They would face Colorado State, with the winner facing the winner of No. 1 seeded Houston and No. 16 seeded South Dakota State.
Wins over Purdue and Illinois, 11 conference wins and a 20-win season are more than enough for a Power 5 team to get into the tournament. It'll be the first time Northwestern has made the tournament in back-to-back seasons.
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Loyola Chicago - Need help, or tournament title
In the Ramblers' second season in the Atlantic 10, they've struck gold.
A 13-3 record entering the final week of the regular season following an upset win over ranked Dayton at home means Loyola should be taken seriously come conference tournament time.
Still, Loyola's NCAA Tournament hopes might have to come down to an A-10 Tournament run that's capped with a tournament title. An at-large bid doesn't seem likely in the eyes of ESPN's Bracketology.
A 20-win resume with a win over Power 5 Boston College also includes losses to UIC, South Florida and Tulsa.
Still, Loyola might be playing some of the best basketball among all mid-majors at the moment. Trifle with the Ramblers at your own risk come March.
Everyone else
Bradley, Southern Illinois-Carbondale, Western Illinois - Win the tournament
These three schools have winning records in conference play but they need to win their respective tournaments to play in the Big Dance.
Bradley has the most experience here. The Braves won back-to-back MVC tourney titles in 2019 and 2020, but have been vying for another since. Catching lightning in a bottle here would be ideal for each team.
UIC, Eastern Illinois, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Northern Illinois, Illinois State, DePaul - Court chaos
It would be easy to say just worry about next year, but there's always a chance.
It's why they play conference tournaments.
But, the road is a long climb to the top.
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