Illinois Basketball's Path to March Madness

0:00On March 3rd, Illinois basketball is hitting a tough stretch this season, dropping four of their last six games mostly due to defensive slip-ups. Even so, they're still projected as a number two seed in the latest bracketology for me SPN's Joe Lunardi. With just two regular season games left against Oregon on Tuesday, at 8 p.m. central time on NBCSN and Peacock and Maryland on Sunday, a solid. Finish could lock that seeding in. These bracket has the Aligny opening against 15th-seated East Tennessee State, a match of they should handle easily, given the Buccaneers lack, of size and strength. From there, it'd be the winner of SMU and St. Mary's in the second round. St. Mary's pulled off a win over Gonzaga recently, but struggle badly against other big programs while SMU sits eighth in a weaker ACC and has hung. Tough with top teams. That path gets spicier in the sweet 16, potentially against 3rd-seated Kansas or 6th-seated

1:00Kentucky. Kansas boasts elite defense under coach Bill Self and freshman star Darren Peterson, but they struggle on the boards and lack offensive variety, making them beatable for Illinois despite the challenge. Pushing to the Elite 8 could mean facing Arizona or Alabama. The Aligny lost to Alabama earlier this year, and number two ranked Arizona would be the Abbeest, though preferable to other top options like Duke, Michigan, or Eucon. For now, coach Brad Underwood Squad needs to focus on winning those final games and shining in the Big Ten tournament to solidify their spot and make most of this favorable draw.