CHAMPAIGN — Illinois had a full 24 hours to wait and see if all it did during the regular season — capped by Saturday’s regular season-finale win against Purdue — was enough to land one of the top four national seeds for the NCAA tournament.
Turns out it was.
Beating the Boilermakers was a 10th Top 25 victory for Illinois (28-3) and its 13th straight win to end the regular season as the bookend to a perfect 14-0 run through nonconference play. That résumé was bolstered by a No. 4 RPI ranking and set the Illini up to host through the regional round should they keep winning.