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Tuesday, February 5, 2013
 Illinois' NCAA tournament chances
By Joe Kaiser

 Entering Sunday, Joe Lunardi's latest bracketology update listed Illinois as one of the "last four in." So what did a home loss to Wisconsin do to the Fighting Illini's rapidly fading NCAA tournament chances?

Well, it certainly didn't help. The 12-0 start to the season is becoming more of a distant memory with every loss, and Illinois' inability to pull out a much-needed W in Champaign dropped the team to 2-7 in Big Ten play and losers of 8 of their last 11 games.

The remaining schedule gives the Fighting Illini opportunity to get back in the big dance field, with their next two games coming at home against No. 1 Indiana and on the road against No. 18 Minnesota. But wins in either of those contests appear remote at best, considering how poorly the team has played over the last six weeks.

Here's our own Andy Katz with more on Illinois' tournament chances.

Andy Katz
Illinois is on the outside looking in
"I might be proven wrong, but I'm not so sure there will be a bubble in the Big Ten or the SEC. Illinois' home loss to Wisconsin makes it hard to see the Illini suddenly waking up to become an NCAA team at 2-7 in league play. If Kentucky and Missouri can stay afloat, then the SEC should be settled with four bids, even with the Tide sporting a 6-2 league record. The Big Ten seems settled with Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State and Minnesota."