Here's What People Think of Illinois College Basketball

With the NBA season starting tonight, don't forget that the junior circuit - college hoops - make their debut next Friday the 8th. Over the past season I got into the habit of following a lot of the Division I teams in my state. So with all the season previews and predictions dropping left and right, I figured I'd compiled a few of them and see what the experts are saying about the thirteen men's hoops programs from the Land of Lincoln.

The teams are ordered by their national ranking in Dan Hanner's projections over at ESPN Insider. The rankings were derived from 10,000 simulations of each player and each team's defense. Pretty cool stuff. To find out more go here. If you don't have an Insider account you'll just have to settle for the numbers I post here.

Under that is Hanner's rankings in relation to the conference the school is in, the projected conference finish of the school according to a separate preview ran by Insider using different writers, and their place in the conference-commissioned preseason polls.

BIG EAST (10 TEAMS)

136. DePaul

• Conf. Poll: 10th
• ESPN: 10th
• Hanner: 10th

BIG TEN (12 TEAMS)

Apparently the Big Ten is too good to put out a preseason poll, so I had to stick with the ESPN predictions here.

53. Illinois

• ESPN: 7th
• Hanner: 8th

108. Northwestern

• ESPN: 8th
• Hanner: 10th

HORIZON LEAGUE (9 TEAMS)

280. Illinois-Chicago

• Conf. Poll: 6th
• ESPN: 8th
• Hanner: 9th

MID-AMERICAN (12 TEAMS)

304. Northern Illinois

• Conf. Poll: 12th
• ESPN: 12th
• Hanner: 12th

MISSOURI VALLEY (9 TEAMS)

The MVC's preseason poll won't be released until October 30th. I will add it when it becomes available.

153. Bradley

• ESPN: 4th
• Hanner: 7th

183. Illinois State

• ESPN: 6th
• Hanner: 8th

199. Loyola Chicago

• ESPN: 9th
• Hanner: 9th

210. Southern Illinois

• ESPN: 7th
• Hanner: 10th

OHIO VALLEY (12 TEAMS)

274. Eastern Illinois

• ESPN: 7th
• Hanner: 9th
• Conf. Poll: 10th

317. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville

• Conf. Poll: 11th
• Hanner: 11th
• ESPN: 12th

SUMMIT LEAGUE (8 TEAMS)

246. Western Illinois

• Conf. Poll: 4th
• Hanner: 4th
• ESPN: 5th

WESTERN ATHLETIC (9 TEAMS)

286. Chicago State

• ESPN: 4th
• Conf. Poll (Coaches): 6th
• Conf. Poll (Media): 6th
• Hanner: 6th

TL;DR: A lot of middling to low expectations for the teams from Illinois. We'll see if any of these teams can prove the critics wrong. Stay tuned for more coverage of Illinois men's and women's college hoops during the season.

Illinois College Sports Report Vol. 2, Post 1

Eastern Illinois's Jimmy Garoppolo

Hello all, it's time for the second season of the Illinois College Sports Report. You may remember it as illisports and illihoops, but this year I decided to keep it simple. Every Monday until the last baseball team in the state plays their final game, I will give you scores and (very soon) news from each of the 13 Division I teams in the Land of Lincoln.

We join the Illinois college sports scene in Week 2 of college football season. Most of the seven pigskin-playing schools are off to good starts. Below are scores and summaries of last week's action. Ranking numbers are for the week of the games. FBS rank derived from AP Top 25 poll, FCS rank derived from The Sports Network Top 25.

SCORES FROM LAST WEEK

Football Bowl Subdivision

at #19 Northwestern 48, Syracuse 27: "Chicago's Big Ten Team" made slight work of the Orange in a 48-27 blowout at Ryan Field. The game was over by halftime, when the score was 34-7. The rest was academic. Quarterbacks Trevor Siemian and Kain Colter split passing duties and did equally well. Colter, the starter, 15/18 for 116 yards and a two TDs (one passing, one rushing). Siemian went 15/19 for 259 yards and three scores. Tony Jones had a huge day on the receiving end with 9 catches for 185 yards and a touchdown. The Wildcats didn't giveaway any turnovers in the game, but was able to snatch four interceptions against Syracuse's Drew Allen. After this dominant performance and the win at Cal, the schedule will get slightly easier for Northwestern, as they host Western Michigan and Maine over the next two weeks.

at Illinois 45, Cincinnati 17: It was another impressive aerial by senior QB Nathan Scheelhaase. After going for 416 yards and a couple of TDs against SIU, he went for 312 yards and four touchdowns against the Bearcats. Illinois got off to a hot start, reeling off 21 unanswered points to open up the first half. However, a one-yard pass from Munchie Legaux to Max Morrison with 8 seconds left in the second quarter gave the Bearcats the momentum to score 10 points in the third quarter. After three it was 28-17. However, things opened up in the fourth when Illinois were able to tack on a field goal and two touchdowns for the win.

Northern Illinois (1-0) was idle this week

Football Championship Subdivision

#14 Eastern Illinois 40, at Southern Illinois 37: It took two overtimes to put this thriller in Carbondale to rest, as a 36 yard Cameron Berra field goal helped EIU eek out the 40-37 win. While both teams were evenly matched, the more impressive came from the victorious Panthers. QB Jimmy Garoppolo took to the skies and pulled down 440 yards off of 34/56 passing along with four touchdowns and an interception. His two main targets were receivers Erik Lora and Adam Drake. Lora racked up 11 receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown while Drake got 7 catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns. For SIU, Kory Faulkner went 28/50 for 294 yards and 4 yards while MyCole Pruitt paced the receivers with 8 cathces for 98 yards and two touchdowns.

The win is EIU's second straight 40-point performance, coming off of an impressive upset at San Diego State. SIU was once again on the losing end of a high scoring performance, falling 32-42 at Illinois last week.

at Western Illinois 34, Quincy 6: After a dominate defensive performance in Week 1 against Hampton that saw the Leathernecks force nine turnovers, it was the offense that got the job done in the 34-6 victory over D-II Quincy. WIU rounded up 549 total yards, distributed fairly evenly between the pass (278) and run (271). Trenton Norvell threw 24/34 for 278 yards and two touchdowns. Running back J.C. Baker lead the rushing attack with 14 carries for 144 yards and two touchdowns. If anything was glaring it was the penalties, as Western Illinois racked up 15.

Quincy was shut out for most of the game, but were able to get on the board at the fourth quarter buzzer when Nick Lonergan scored on a 4 yard keeper. It was the first time the Hawks scored at Hansen Field since 2004, when they scored on a touchdown reception in the fourth quarter in a 31-38 loss to the Leathernecks.

#19 Illinois State (0-1) was idle this week

THE NUMBERS ARE IN

With another week of games in the books, here are the new rankings from both the FBS and FCS poll:

AP Top 25 (FBS)

#17 Northwestern: +2 from last week

The Sports Network Top 25 (FCS) [Updated 9/9/13 12:48 PM CT]

#9 Eastern Illinois: +5 from last week
#18 Illinois State: +1 from last week

SIU Emerges From Middle of the Pack to Win ILLHoops Tourney

Jeff Early led the way for SIU, netting 23 and 15 in SIU's championship win

After going 10-14 in conference play, the Southern Illinois Salukis were able to pull off an improbable run in the inaugural ILLHoops Tournament. This run included knocking off #1 seed Illinois State and trouncing their First Round opponent, #9 UIC. Now they can add a 66-60 victory in hostile territory to the story of this crazy run. Now they are champions.

The win was led by senior guard Jeff Early, who scored 23 points and 15 rebounds and was named Big Prairie Conference Tourney MVP. DePaul's struggles at the guard position made Early unstoppable as no Blue Demon point was able to check him as he rained shots from all over and controlled the boards. Desmar Jackson also had 10 points despite going 3-11 from the field, and Jalen Pendleton contributed 10 off the bench.

DePaul's effort was a strong run, as the trio of Melvin-Young-Crockett willed their team in this tight game. Crockett had 15, Young had 14, and Melvin had 11 points and 8 rebounds. But in the end, it wasn't enough to control Jeff Early and his dominance.

For Southern Illinois, this championship earns them an automatic bid in the 2013 Coliseum Invitational. Their seeding will be determined in the coming days.

Until then, the Salukis can relax and celebrate the win. After a rough start in conference play, SIU has powered through and they are now ILLHoops champions.

ILLHoops Tournament: Semifinals

Jeff Early grabbed 14 rebounds in #9 SIU's win over #5 Bradley

The ILLHoops tourney continued at Redbird Arena, even after host Illinois State was knocked out in their first game of the tourney by a surging Southern Illinois squad. Would the Salukis run continue or would the Braves be courageous enough to stop them in their tracks? Below is a recap of each game:

#2 DePaul 67, #3 Western Illinois 47

Despite 12 rebounds and 10 assists from Terell Parks and an additional 10 from Ceola Clark, the Leathernecks struggled on offense and could not control DePaul's athletic wing players on defense. WIU shot 35.8% from the field, while DePaul shot 45.3%. Both teams took 53 shots, but the Blue Demons made five more than WIU. For DePaul, they out-rebounded Western 40-28. Brandon Young led all scorers with 13 while Cleveland Melvin added 12 points and 9 rebounds. Jamee Crockett also had 12.

#9 Southern Illinois 63, #5 Bradley 58

SIU's run continues. This time it was both Jeff Early (12 points, 14 rebounds) and Desmar Jackson (13 points, 6 rebounds) taking control for the Salukis in their win over Bradley. Bradley falls despite strong scoring efforts from Walt Lemon (15 points, 9 rebounds), Dyricus Simms-Edwards (15 points), and Jordan Prosser (10 points). However, as a team, SIU out-rebounded Bradley 37-28 and shot better from the field (46% to 41%).

So the table is set for the inaugural ILLHoops championship. #2 DePaul and #9 Southern Illinois. The game takes place at the home court of the higher seed, so McGrath-Phillips Arena will be the site where we will see who gets the bid into the 2013 Coliseum Invitational.

ILLHoops Tournament: Quarterfinals

Desmar Jackson's 22 and 11 helped #9 SIU upset #1 ISU in Normal

The scene moved from the campus sites to Redbird Arena on the campus of Illinois State University for Friday's Quarterfinals. As ISU was the regular season champion, they earned the chance to host the Quarterfinals and Semifinals of the ILLHoops Tournament. The Redbirds went 10-2 at home, but would the home-court advantage be enough to help them advance to the Semis? Below are the results of each quarterfinal matchup:

#3 Western Illinois 62, #11 Chicago State 46

Western was able to control the tempo and stop Chicago State's shooters in route to the victory. After scorching Loyola for 17 points, Quinton Pippen was held to 10 in this game on only 8 shots. For Western, Terell Parks pulled down 19 points and 13 rebounds while Ceola Clark chipped in 13 points of his own, with three of his four field goals coming from beyond the arc.

#2 DePaul 69, #7 Northwestern 61

This game went down the wire, but in the end DePaul was able to pull out the W. While Cleveland Melvin picked up a double-double (15 pts, 12 rebs) and Donnavan Kirk chipped in 11 and 6, the real spark came off the bench. Worrell Clahar lead all scorers with 16 points off the bench, going 6 of 10 from the field. For Northwestern, Reggie Hearn was held to 12 points after exploding for 32 in the First Round. Alex Olah pulled down 12 and 9 along with 4 blocks. Tre Demps (11 pts) and Dave Sobolewski (10 pts) also made big contributions for the Wildcats in the loss.

#5 Bradley 68, #4 Illinois 59

Despite 14 points each from Brandon Paul and Joseph Bertrand, Illinois was undone by the Bradley Braves in Normal. The Braves played tough defense forced several Illini to shoot poorly, including Tracy Abrams and DJ Richardson going a combined 2/14 from the field. Bradley also used their length to control the game, with Will Egolf pulling down 14 boards and both Tyshon Pickett and Jake Eastman coming up with 12 points each. Also awaken: Walt Lemon. After scoring 8 in the First Round, Lemon would go on to lead all scorers with 16 points off of 6/13 shooting.

#9 Southern Illinois 76, #1 Illinois State 68

In what will probably go down as the upset of the tournament, SIU was able to knock off #1 Illinois State in what was essentially a road game, stunning the Redbird Arena crowd. The Salukis can give all their thanks to Desmar Jackson, who exploded for 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 steals. While he was a force by his self, SIU as a whole shot 49% from the field as a team. That isn't to say, ISU didn't play well, as they picked up big contributions from Jackie Carmichael (11 pts, 11 rebs), Tyler Brown (16 pts), Johnny Hill (13 pts), and John Wilkins (12 pts). In the end, however, it was the Salukis - more specifically Desmar's - offensive explosion that helped Carbondale stun Illinois State in their own arena.

With those results in place, Saturday's semifinals matchups are as follows:

#2 DePaul vs. #3 Western Illinois

#5 Bradley vs. #9 Southern Illinois

ILLHoops Tournament: First Round

Reggie Hearn went ballistic!
His 32 pts helped Northwestern pull past Eastern.

On Thursday the ILLHoops Tournament kicked off with its First Round of games. The 4th through 13th teams squared off for a chance to advance to the Quarterfinals on Friday. Below are the results of each game:

#4 Illinois 63, #13 Northern Illinois 46

The game was a blowout, but it wasn't as bad for NIU as it could have been. Illinois shot poorly, going 21/54 (38.9%) from the field, but managed to go 34.6% from three. Brandon Paul (13), Joseph Bertrand (12), Tracy Abrams (11), and Tyler Griffey (10) all scored double-digits for the Illini. For Northern, Abdel Nader pulled down a double-double, scoring a game-high 20 and pulling down 13 boards. Darrell Bowie also had a decent game with 7 points and 9 rebounds. In the end, though, it wasn't enough for the Huskies, and a 2-23 tournament mercifully comes to an close.

#5 Bradley 65, #12 SIU Edwardsville 54

Bradley put up a solid effort in their home win over Edwardsville. Bradley outshot (43% from three to the Cougars' 35%) and outrebounded (42-31) SIUE by convincing margins. Dyricus Simms-Edwards lead the way for the Braves with 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Tyshon Pickett was right behind him with 13 points and 9 rebounds. Jerome Jones paced SIUE with 13 points and 8 rebounds.

#11 Chicago State 61, #6 Loyola 56

Christian Thomas' 13 points and 14 rebounds and Devon Turk's 13 points were not enough for Loyola to pull off the home win. Instead, it was the pinpoint accuracy from deep that helped Chicago State pull off the upset at Gentile Arena. Quinton Pippen lead the way, going 4 for 7 from three and finishing with 17 points. Corey Gray also came off the bench and hit two of three. in the end, the Cougars went 7/13 from three (53.8%). Jeremy Robinson also contributed 9 points and 9 rebounds.

#7 Northwestern 72, #12 Eastern Illinois 66

Everybody came to work for EIU. Josh Piper's 20 points lead the way, Sherman Blanford had 12 points and 8 rebounds, and Morris Woods pulled down a double-double with 11 and 10. The Panthers grossly outrebounded their opponent 36-19. But for Northwestern, all it took was Reggie Hearn. Hearn scorched EIU for 32 points, including 4 of 6 from three. Tre Demps also chipped in 11 points, but in the end Reggie was all the Wildcats needed to get the win.

#9 Southern Illinois 60, #8 UIC 45

SIU came out to play and UIC couldn't keep up. The Flames shot 30% from the field and 22% from three. Their only double-digit scorer was Josh Crittle, who picked up 10. For Southern, it was Jeff Early leading the charge with 16 points and 8 rebounds. Anthony Beane had 11 while Kendall Brown-Surles had 12 to go along with 6 assists.

So with those results in place, here are the matchups for Friday's Quarterfinals in Normal:

#1 Illinois State vs. #9 Southern Illinois

#2 DePaul vs. #7 Northwestern

#3 Western Illinois vs. #11 Chicago State

#4 Illinois vs. #5 Bradley

Introducing: The ILLHoops Tournament

With the NCAA Tournament underway, I wanted to hold a tournament of my own to see who was the best basketball team in the state of Illinois. In most cases, one would simply look to the rankings to answer that question. However, things such as injuries and the lack of intrastate matchups during the season keep us from being absolutely certain just who reigns supreme in the Land of Lincoln.

With that, I figured I would use the SimMatchup tool over at whatifsports.com to settle the score. Over the next few days, you will see the results unfold as I find out who the best in the Prairie State truly is.

Today, I simulated a round robin. All thirteen schools faced one another in a home-and-home. I used the rosters as they were on the site, meaning almost everyone was playing at full strength. However, Northwestern's roster lacked the presence of Drew Crawford. If I am able to add him during the tournament phase, I will let you know. With that aside, below are the results:

1. Illinois State: 19-5 (10-2 home, 9-3 road)
2. DePaul: 18-6 (9-3 home, 9-3 road)
3. Western Illinois: 18-6 (9-3 home, 9-3 road)
4. Illinois: 15-9 (9-3 home, 6-6 road)
5. Bradley: 14-10 (6-6 home, 8-4 road)
6. Loyola: 14-10 (7-5 home, 7-5 road)
7. Northwestern: 12-12 (7-5 home, 5-7 road)
8. UIC: 10-14 (6-6 home, 4-8 road)
9. Southern Illinois: 10-14 (5-7 home, 5-7 road)
10. Eastern Illinois: 9-15 (5-7 home, 4-8 road)
11. Chicago State: 8-16 (5-7 home, 3-9 road)
12. SIU Edwardsville: 7-17 (3-9 home, 4-8 road)
13. Northern Illinois: 2-22 (2-10 home, 0-12 road)

DePaul held the tiebreaker over WIU due to beating them 2-0 in their matchups. After splitting their series and having identical records against the top two teams, Bradley beat out Loyola because they went 1-1 against 3rd place Western while the Ramblers went 0-2. UIC beat out SIU because they went 1-1 against DePaul while the Salukis went 0-2.

With these standings in place, these schools will now face off in a single elimination tournament. With the top three teams receiving First Round byes, the opening matchups will be as follows:

#4 Illinois vs. #13 Northern Illinois; winner will face the Bradley/SIUE winner in the next round

#5 Bradley vs. #12 SIU Edwardsville; winner will face the U of I/NIU winner in the next round

#6 Loyola vs. #11 Chicago State; winner will face Western in the next round

#7 Northwestern vs. #10 Eastern Illinois; winner will face DePaul in the next round

#8 UIC vs. #9 Southern Illinois; winner will face Illinois State in the next round

The First Round will be tomorrow at the campus sites of the higher seed. The Quarterfinals on Friday and Semifinals on Saturday will be held at Illinois State. The Finals will be on Sunday at the site of the highest remaining seed.

The winner of the tournament will earn an automatic bid into the Coliseum Invitational, which will basically be the national version of this.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. I really like doing these simulation tournaments at the end of each college basketball season. It will be fun to see where this thing leads.

An Illinoisan's Guide to the Tournaments

We are in the midst of March Madness, but after a rousing bout of conference tournaments it is now time to enter the national stage.

For the men, only one team from Illinois made the Big Dance: the Fighting Illini of U of I. Meanwhile, four more teams will be playing in smaller tourneys. For the women DePaul is the only Illinois entry into the NCAAs, while three more teams ended up in the other Field of 64 that is the WNIT.

Below is a profile for each team, including how they got to where they are and where I predict they will finish in their respective tourney.

NCAA TOURNAMENT

Illinois
Seed: #7 in the East Region

Next Game: Friday vs. #10 Colorado (Austin, Texas) (3:40 PM CT, TNT)

After starting the season 12-0 the momentum ran out for the Illini as they were 10-12 the rest of the way, including 8-10 in a Big Ten that was extremely competitive this season. The team struggled with shooting (41.6% FG) and rebounding (30.3 RPG) a lot this season. However, if the shots can get going and the team can force enough turnovers, Illinois can be competitive with just about anybody. As a matter of fact, it was strong shooting and forced turnovers that allowed them to get big wins at Gonzaga and against Ohio State.

In my opinion, U of I finds themselves in a rough spot as their first matchup is against Tad Boyle and his Colorado Buffaloes. Colorado's strong suits include defense and rebounding. While there is a good chance that Illinois could get hot on this afternoon, I feel that Colorado is in a better position to frustrate the Illini shooters then pick up the pieces on the boards. Unfortunately, this may be an early exit for Illinois' Flagship School.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL INVITATIONAL

Western Illinois

Next Game: Wednesday at Purdue (6:00 PM CT, AXS TV)

The 2012-13 season at tiny Western Illinois has been historic...by their standards. As co-regular season champions of the Summit League WIU went 22-8 and had their best season in their 31 years as a Division I program. Known for their slow, methodical offense and stingy defense, the Leathernecks make their second straight appearance in the CBI.

At full strength, WIU would be more than capable of beating Purdue in West Lafayette. However, the Leathernecks have lost sixth-year-senior guard Ceola Clark for the postseason after he went down in their conference tournament loss to North Dakota State. The injury has been revealed to be an ACL tear.

On top of that their frontcourt leader Terell Parks has a foot injury of his own after hurting it in their Bracketbusters matchup against Cleveland State. He has been day-to-day ever since, but hasn't played since that game. If Parks doesn't come back, or he returns and isn't at least 75%, then Western will be out of the CBI rather quickly. I think that grave scenario is the most likely to happen.

COLLEGEINSIDER.COM TOURNAMENT
(The CIT's format is set up such that the bracket for future rounds will be dependent on the results of Tuesday's and Wednesday's opening round games. Because of this, I won't be able to make long-term predictions and can only say if I feel they will win their upcoming matchup.)

Bradley

Next Game: Wednesday vs. Green Bay (7:00 PM CT, watchcollegeinsider.com)

Bradley had a pretty ho-hum season, finishing 16-16 overall and 7-11 in the Missouri Valley. While players such as Walt Lemon, Dyricus Simms-Edwards, and Tyshon Pickett had their strong moments, the team as a whole tended to be largely inconsistent over the course of a full season.

Their first opponent are the Green Bay Phoenix. On paper, they are the superior team by only a little bit. They are a slightly better defensive squad than Bradley and have strong scorers in guard Kiefer Sykes and center Alec Brown. The ace in the hole for Bradley, however, will be the fact that they are good at home (12-4) and Green Bay is bad on the road (4-11). Since the Braves are hosting this on-campus at Renaissance Coliseum, I think they will manage to get the win.

Chicago State & UIC

Next Game: Wednesday at UIC Pavilion (7:00 PM CT, watchcollegeinsider.com)

The Cougars of Chicago State gained an automatic bid into the CIT as the winners of the (most likely final) Great West conference tournament (always nice to leave a conference on top). For their first matchup they won't have to travel too far, as they go from the South Side to the West Side to take on the UIC Flames.

The Flames started the season on fire (I'm so sorry for the pun...no I'm not) as they won nine of their first ten games. From there, the team went 8-14 the rest of the way, including 7-9 in the Horizon League and three different sets of three-game losing skids. Despite that, this year was an improvement as their 17-15 overall record was 9 wins better than the year before.

I'm not going to beat around the bush on this: UIC is going to win this game, and probably easily. UIC went 10-4 at the Pavilion (including 5-0 against teams with RPIs of 200 or more. Chi State has an RPI of 317). Chicago State went 2-15 on the road. I could go deeper than that, but I really think the result of this game comes down to those two statistics.

WOMEN'S NCAA TOURNAMENT
DePaul

Seed: #10 in the Norfolk Region

Next Game: Sunday vs. #7 Oklahoma State (Durham, North Carolina) (1:35 PM CT, ESPN2)

The Blue Demons and their fast paced, efficient offensive attack went 11-3 in the non-conference season, but was humbled by the Big East schedule and went 9-7 in-conference.

DePaul finds themselves facing the OSU Cowgirls, a team with a more efficient offense and a better defense. This team will most likely find themselves bowing out of the tourney early.

WOMEN'S NIT
Eastern Illinois

Region 2

Next Game: Wednesday at Missouri (Time TBA)

Led by seniors Mariah King and Ta'Kenya Nixon, EIU had a decent season, going 12-4 in the Ohio Valley and 19-11 overall. For the most part, Missouri seems to have the upper hand, as they had no trouble during the season beating down smaller teams and are 14-4 at home. Mizzou is also a better shooting team overall and strong on post defense. Eastern could have a shot if they are able to get their long-range game going and can fight the Tigers on the boards. If I had to chose, though, I think Mizzou will win.

Illinois

Region 2

Next Game: Thursday vs. Miami (Ohio) (7:00 PM CT)

Illinois is team that had its ups and downs this season under first-year coach Matt Bollant. Short-staffed throughout the season, the Illini held up fairly well. The team was lead by Karisma Penn in the middle, but found themselves upset by Wisconsin in the conference tournament.

Coming in, the Illini play host to a Redhawks team that didn't hold up well against superior competition. Illinois has to make sure they dictate the tempo and make sure they get their shots off quickly and efficiently. This is particularly important because they don't play defense very well and Miami is a very good shooting team. I think that U of I and their multiple scoring weapons will be good enough to make it to Round 3, where they could be stopped by a very good Toledo squad.

Illinois State

Region 2

Next Game: Thursday vs. IUPUI (Time TBA)

Illinois State's three-pronged attack of Janae Smith, Candace Sykes, and Jamie Russell managed to carry the Redbirds to a respectable 23-10 record and 13-5 in the Missouri Valley. Their next opponent will be the IUPUI Jaguars, a team whose calling card is their perimeter defense and their ability to force turnovers. However, ISU is more inclined to work the ball inside where the Jaguars struggle due to a size disadvantage. Illinois State should come out on top and could make it to the 4th Round, where I feel they would be stopped by Toledo.

Here's What People Think of Illinois Softball

Softball season in Illinois is underway, so let's take a look at how the preseason polls feel Illinois teams will fair this spring.

Bradley: 7th in the Missouri Valley (Illinois State, Southern Illinois)
DePaul: 4th in the Big East (South Florida)
Eastern Illinois: 2nd in the Ohio Valley West (Tennessee-Martin)
Illinois*
Illinois State: Tied for 1st in the Missouri Valley
Loyola: 1st in the Horizon League
Northern Illinois: 5th in the MAC West (Ball State)
Northwestern*
SIUE: 4th in the Ohio Valley West (Tennessee-Martin)
Southern Illinois: Tied for 1st in the Missouri Valley
UIC: 2nd in the Horizon League (Loyola)
Western Illinois: 3rd in the Summit League (North Dakota State)

*Big Ten did not release a preseason poll. WTF, Big Ten???

Here's What People Think of Illinois Baseball

College Baseball 2013 is right around the corner, and the preseason prognostications are pouring in. Here is where Illinois's collegiate teams fall in their conference's respective preseason polls:

Bradley: 6th in the Missouri Valley (Missouri State)
Chicago State: N/A*
Eastern Illinois: 5th in the Ohio Valley (Austin Peay)
Illinois: 6th in the Big Ten (Indiana)
Illinois State: Tied for 3rd in the Missouri Valley (Missouri State)
Northern Illinois: 6th in the MAC West (Central Michigan)
Northwestern: N/A** (Indiana)
SIUE: 7th in the Ohio Valley (Austin Peay)
Southern Illinois: 5th in the Missouri Valley (Missouri State)
UIC: 4th in the Horizon League (Valparaiso)
Western Illinois: 4th in the Summit League (North Dakota State)

* The Great West didn't put out a poll this season, apparently.
**Only the top six teams in the Big Ten poll were listed in their press release

Brandon Paul with the Boom-By-Yay on Trevor Mbakwe

Illinois took a rough loss at home to Minnesota, but U of I fans can take solace in the fact that this dunk happened. Early in the 1st half, Brandon Paul chose to take flight and didn't let anybody - not even Trevor Mbakwe - stand in his way.

When the dust settled, Paul was called for the charge, but the basket was counted anyways. Everybody wins!...well, just Minnesota won.

Chicago State to the WAC is a Good Thing. Will It Last?

Ever heard of Chicago State University?

For Chicagoans, it may be that school over on 95th & King Drive that a friend or family member goes/went to.

For long-time Summit League fans, this is the school your conference kicked out in 2006. At that time, the athletic department was a compliance nightmare, the president was allegedly spending the school's money for herself, and the graduation rate was abysmal.

Some fans of bigger schools may even remember this school as the one your men's or women's basketball team beat by 40 a couple of November's or December's ago.

For the rest of the country, though, you probably haven't. To most, the name may sound like a generic university from a television sitcom or one of those online colleges that are advertised during the day.

But on Wednesday, December 5th, the Chicago State Cougars may have found themselves inching ever closer to relevance in the college sports scene when they accepted an all-sports invitation into the Western Athletic Conference.

For Chicago State University, this is a big moment in the school's athletic history. It is a huge step in the school's quest to rise from its mid-2000s depths. The charge is lead by new AD Dan Schumacher, who arrived at Chicago State in July after six years at Lewis University in nearby Romeoville. According to a Sun Times profile from around the time of his hiring, the first thing he did at CSU was buy the school a ticket machine. From there, his department has moved forward with the addition of men's and women's soccer teams, a small TV deal with Lakeshore Public TV, the construction of a new baseball and soccer stadium, and, of course, a deal to be added to the Western Athletic Conference.

Inclusion in the WAC will give Cougar athletes a chance to get into an NCAA Tournament, something they haven't had for seven seasons. The idea of simply having a shot at the Tournament should do wonders for recruiting.

It also makes the five year-old, 7,000-seat Jones Convocation Center seem less like wasteful spending.

For the WAC, this move keeps the lights on for now. The conference has come a long way from when they started with six schools in 1962. Things went south in 1996 when the 10-team conference added 6 teams. Half of the conference found the arrangement untenable and left the WAC to start their own conference (the Mountain West) in 1999. Since then, it's been a carousel of schools, most coming and eventually leaving for either the Mountain West or Conference USA. Even four of the five schools they added for the 2012-13 season to cover the losses of other schools are bolting for new conferences. Most of the defections were from schools that have football teams, so the WAC will no longer be sponsoring that sport with only two football schools slated to be left by 2013-14.

So what is a once-proud and stable conference on the verge of collapse to do? Well, you select schools the same way George Clooney and Brad Pitt assembled heist team members in the Ocean's movie series. The WAC has something to offer (an automatic qualifier spot in the Tournament), the schools have something to offer (the desire to be members, thus keeping the conference alive), and both have the same goal in mind: competitive athletics and relevance.

What outsiders see as a conference of misfit toys may have more potential than most think. For 2014-15, the season after current member Idaho leaves for the Big Sky Conference, the WAC alignment will consist of holdovers New Mexico State and Seattle as well as the new additions of Utah Valley, Grand Canyon, Cal State Bakersfield, Texas-Pan American, and Chicago State. That's a strong basketball school in New Mexico State, access to the Seattle, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, and Chicago markets, and possible pipelines into Los Angeles, Houston, and San Antonio. If these schools can stay together and develop their athletic programs, this conference could become a viable mid-major conference.

But even though the WAC rebuilt their house, that house is still made of cards. NMSU is still looking to defect from the WAC, as they are looking for an FBS home for their godawful football team. Seattle - a private, West Coast school that doesn't have a football team - has been looking to get into the West Coast Conference - a conference full of private, West Coast schools that (with the exception of Brigham Young) don't have football teams - ever since they returned to Division I in 2009 after a 29-year absence. Then there's the matter of who else the WAC will add. Where will the next school come from? Division I? Division II? Thin air? The WAC carousel continues to spin.

For now, though, Chicago State's inclusion in the Western Athletic Conference, a conference with a long pedigree of successful schools that will now be including other up-and-coming athletic programs, is a historic and exciting moment for the Cougars. It will be interesting to see what happens next as Chicago State looks to become a major player in mid-major athletics.