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Bracketology 2023: 5 games to help sort out Big Ten Basketball this week

By Jason Burgess

Jan 11, 2019; Madison, WI, USA; The Big Ten logo on the floor at the Kohl Center before the game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Purdue Boilermakers. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 11, 2019; Madison, WI, USA; The Big Ten logo on the floor at the Kohl Center before the game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Purdue Boilermakers. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports /
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Big Ten Basketball Illinois Fighting Illini guard Terrence Shannon Jr. Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Big Ten Basketball Illinois Fighting Illini guard Terrence Shannon Jr. Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /

Indiana at Illinois

Thursday, January 19, Champaign, IL, 8:30 PM ET, FS1

Two teams in desperate need of wins to get their seasons back on track also face off Thursday night when Indiana travels to Illinois. Both teams have flirted with the top 25 at times this season but currently find themselves on the outside looking in.

For Illinois, freshman guard Skyy Clark left the program four games ago but things had been in a bit of a spiral for Brad Underwood’s team prior to that. The Illini, even at 12-5 have begun league play 3-3 and find themselves in a ten-team logjam separated by one game in the loss column, with one of their wins coming against the cellar-dwelling Minnesota Gophers.

The visiting Hoosiers find themselves in a similar fate, having gone just 4-6 over their last ten games, finding themselves already in a hole in the standings, three games behind league-leading Purdue. To illustrate how closely bunched a lot of the Big Ten is, Indiana’s net ranking as of Saturday was 37th and is within 20 spots in either direction of nine other Big Ten teams.

The two teams have combined for a quad 1 record of 3-9, but Indiana needs to boost the middle of their resume with a 1-5 quad 1 record and seven quad four wins. If you look in the mirror at Indiana you might see Illinois as well, because they have two quad 1 wins and an unblemished 6-0 quad 4 record. Both these teams are evenly matched and could really use a victory in this one.

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