Play On: Illinois +5
Note: LTKO revenge rears its ugly head again in this one as the Illini will look for payback from an opening round 64-61 defeat at the hands of the Hawkeyes in the 2012 Big Ten tourney, a loss that ended an Illinois 5-game win-and-cover streak over Iowa. John Groce’s team also had a 5-game streak snapped last week by Michigan.
Hey, no shame in dropping a contest to a Wolverines squad with two guys named
Tim Hardaway and Glenn Robinson and their 25 years of combined NBA experience.
Anyway, that 5-game Illini win streak, which began with back-to-back upsets of
Indiana and Minnesota and ended with three straight trouncings of Big Ten
bottom-feeders, put Illinois up on the 20-win pedestal, an accomplishment that
nearly guarantees they’ll be dancing in March. Now they need to seal the deal
with a big road win in Iowa City against a Hawkeye squad in the middle of an
Indiana/Nebraska same-season revenge sandwich and a 3-8 SU record versus teams
with a win percentage greater than .666 this season. We have no problem fading
this wobbly home favorite tonight. Neither should you.