Vozzelli | Illini hope they have another March run in them

INDIANAPOLIS Shauna Green made clear after her Illinois womens basketball team won the inaugural WBIT championship last April that, as much as the Illini enjoyed their experience, Illinois had no intentions of returning to that tournament.

That, as much fun as the Illini had winning the WBIT, one of the main goals by which Illinois would define success each year was consistently reaching the NCAA tournament.

Whether Illinois has done enough to earn an at-large bid and be among the NCAA tournaments 68-team field will be known in eight days at 7 p.m.

on March 16.

The Illini are definitely proceeding as if they are a lock to make a second NCAA tournament appearance in the span of three years.

What we went through last year, theres no way were able to deal and have the success we had this year through the adversity we faced losing two top players, Green said in reference to Makira Cook and Gretchen Dolan after Thursday nights 74-70 loss to Nebraska in the second round of the Big Ten tournament, where Illinois was one and done for a second straight year.

We dont accomplish what we accomplish this year without the adversity we went through last year and without the WBIT championship run.

That stretch in Indy last year to win that really changed this team and the trajectory to be able to go out and compete night in and night out and to get 11 wins in the Big Ten.

We were on an eight-game winning streak in the Big Ten.

The consistency, that no doubt about, was from that run last year and really prepared and propelled our team to now.

Now, we are going to be in the NCAA tournament, and thats what our goal was when we cut down those nets last (April after the WBIT title).

Theres reasoning behind the statement Illinois has done enough to warrant an at-large NCAA tournament bid.

Despite a four-game losing streak that has the Illini (21-9) trending in the wrong direction ahead of the NCAA tournament.

Still, Illinois NET ranking has held steady with the Illini on the right side of 40 in that key metric.

Their four-point loss to the Cornhuskers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, in which Nebraska rallied from a seven-point deficit to start the fourth quarter, saw Illinois only drop two spots in the NET to No.

33.

What, if anything, would perhaps be concerning for Green and Co.

is that although the Illini project as a No.

8 or No.

9, according to bracketologists like ESPNs Charlie Creme and NCAA.com s Autumn Johnson, those are only guesses.

And Illinois record against so-called bubble NCAA teams is just OK.

The Illini lost to Washington and Minnesota in the regular season and split their games with Nebraska (a regular-season win and Big Ten tournament loss).

Illinois does own a win against Oregon at home and also defeated Indiana on the road.

That makes the Illini 3-3 against those teams that will likely be among the last eight in the NCAA tournament field or just outside the 68-team cut.

This is all to say Illinois should feel relatively comfortable about its NCAA tournament position once ESPN starts revealing the bracket next Sunday night.

The Illini dont have a bad loss, with a 15-0 record against Quad III and Quad IV teams.

A 6-9 mark in Quad I and II games (with four wins in that upper tier) is satisfactory.

What this all ignores is that inevitably there are bid-stealers each March, meaning teams from one-bid conferences that would have otherwise not made the NCAA tournament field but qualify by winning their league tournaments auto bid.

A higher than usual number of bid-stealers led to a surprise on Selection Sunday for Illinois in 2023 when Greens team found itself in one of the First Four games as one of the last teams in.

That set the stage for a tough matchup with a not at full strength Illini roster succumbing to Mississippi State in a 70-56 loss in South Bend, Ind.

Thats why the next two weeks could prove significant as Illinois looks to avoid a similar fate should the Illini play again in the NCAA tournament.

Illinois has played more than half the season with basically a six-player rotation.

Thats meant heavy minutes for Kendall Bostic, Genesis Bryant and Adalia McKenzie, in particular.

Illinois isnt in this position without that senior trio, but fourth-quarter letdowns against Nebraska and Michigan have produced this question to Green.

Are they running out of gas? I dont know, Green said on Thursday night.

Im never going to say that.

I told them in the locker room again theres no excuses.

Were never going to sit here and talk about that.

Were just going to take rest.

Were going to try to get everyone healed up and tape them all together and get out there and really enjoy.

I told them, I want to enjoy this next week.

This is a special group that, yeah, it didnt end the way we wanted it to end.

We wanted to win (against Nebraska).

But this group is special, and I want to enjoy the rest of this journey with them, and were going to go, and were going to fight like hell in the NCAA tournament.

That the Illini are in a spot to be confident about making it back to the NCAA tournament started with the proclamation 11 months ago that Illinois would use its WBIT championship as a launching pad to the 2024-25 season.

A launching pad the Illini hope will result in a happy Selection Sunday and a chance to go on another run in March.

Joe Vozzelli covers college basketball for The News-Gazette.

His email is [email protected] , and you can follow him on X (@JoeVozzelli)..

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