After Brandon Paul scored 43 points on January 10 to beat Ohio State, Illinois was sitting at 4-1 in the conference. A lot of people thought that they would probably lose a few games and finish in the top half of the conference. Not too many people expected them to compete for the conference title, but it was a possibility. I can say for a fact that absolutely no one was predicting that Illinois would win only one of their next nine games (and that win was against a great Michigan State squad).

Illini Head Coach Bruce Weber was not widely beloved before the season started, and now it seems like a certainty that his days are numbered. After the Purdue loss, Weber spoke frankly about his players and what he thinks his mistakes have been the past few seasons. There has been a lot already written about this (check here and here to get up to speed), so I'm not going to rehash it here.

It was interesting to see how the players would respond to Weber's comments. Last night, facing a must-win game, Illinois lost to eleventh-place Nebraska by 23 points. It is now basically a foregone conclusion that Weber will be fired at the end of the season, unless something crazy happens.

So let's ask the question: what would it take for Bruce Weber to be back at Illinois next season?

The only answer I can come up with is a Big Ten Tournament Championship followed by a run to the Final Four. That would buy Weber at least another year. Anything less wouldn't be enough for a fanbase that was already on the fence about Weber before the season.

What are the odds of such a thing happening? Very slim, but crazy things have happened in the tournaments the past couple of years. UCONN went on a run last year that ended in a Big East Tournament and National Championship.

I'm not sure why I spent a whole paragraph discussing UCONN's run last year, because Illinois isn't capable of that this season (obviously). UCONN had Kemba Walker, who was an All-American who took over games in crunch time. UI has Brandon Paul, who's near-perfect performance against Ohio State looks like an aberration. During the conference season, UCONN lost nine games, but their worst stretch was losing four out of five. They never had anywhere near the swoon that Illinois is experiencing.

The following is obvious and sad to me as somewhat of a Bruce Weber fan: barring a miracle Illinois will not make the tournament and Bruce Weber will not be their coach next season.

Last but not least, our team preview series wraps up with Illinois. You can easily access all 12 team previews in the team previews box on the left hand side of the site. 

Last season started much like the season before. Promising ranking and plenty of hype around the program. The past two seasons we have seen an Illinois letdown. This year, we aren't really sure what to expect from the Illini. The experience on the team is gone and not much hype surrounds this team. 

Bruce Weber and the program will see plenty of fresh faces this season. The Illini lost five pieces to their starting rotation. That can make quite a dent on the program. Many remain optimistic about Illinois, as the pieces they did lose, never did seem to gel right at certain times of the season. It always seemed as if the team lacked chemistry as they never seemed to peak to their full potential as a whole. 

This season's team will be young, but there will not be a shortage of talent. The only experience the Illini return is DJ Richardson and Brandon Paul. I can't help but to think that Richardson is due for a big breakout year. There has always been expectation surrounding him and I think he could lead the Illini in points this season, with Paul also battling for that position. Expect them to be a key part to a four guard rotation for Illinois this season. The other two in that mix are Joseph Bertrand and Crandall Head. Both of these players did not see a lot of time last season, as they were freshman, but with a lot of Weber's recruits, they are very athletic and can develop as the season progresses. 

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It is going to be tough to tell what kind of team the Illini are going to have for the upcoming season. The Illini lost some of the leading voices on their team. They have a couple juniors that will have to be the voice of reason and lead this team during the 2011-2012 season. 

They have five total recruits in the 2011 recruiting class. Four of those five recruits are ESPNU Top 100 prospects, giving Illinois the 11th ranked recruiting class in the nation. Nnanna Egwu is the top prospect in the class with the most hype behind him. He should be able to contribute immediately as a freshman for the Fighting Illini. 

Joe Lunardi has projected the Illini as a 12 seed in his early predicitons for the NCAA Tournament. I think it could be a fair representation of how everyone thinks that Illinois will do this season. They have a lot of questions but with the quality of their recruiting class, they still can make the tournament. 

Illinois schedule starts out fairly easy. Loyola, SIUE and Lipscomb are the first three games and they should all be wins.

After that Illinois travels to Mexico for the Cancun Challenge. It involves Rutgers, Illinois State and Richmond. Illinois will for sure play Richmond in there first game when they arrive. The next game will either be ISU or Rutgers. Rutgers and Richmond will be a better test to see how Illinois is going to perform this year. I would consider Illinois the favorite in Cancun but you can never be too sure, as Purdue found out last year when they were upset by Richmond in an early season tournament.

For the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, the Fighting Illini face Maryland on the road. This is Illinois first true road test of the season. At this time, they shouldn't really have any losses, but you never know, any team can win on any given day. 

Right after the Maryland game, Illinois flies home to take on Gonzaga at home. Gonzaga is expected to be ranked, so consider the Illini to be put on watch. Illinois will play rival Missouri, as they do every year, right before conference play starts.

In conference play, Illinois toughest stretch, unfortunately, looks like it will be their final six games of the regular season. In that stretch they play Purdue, at Nebraska, at Ohio State, vs Iowa, vs Michigan and end at Wisconsin. That is a brutal stretch to end your season and will more than likely decide their NCAA Tournament fate. They could possibly only win two of those six games, if that happens, I think they would have to make a finals push in the Big Ten Tournament to get to the NCAA Tournament.

I am looking forward to seeing what kind of season Bruce Weber and the Fighting Illini can put together. It should be an interesting ride all the way to March Madness. 

(Click below for the full SCHEDULE and ROSTER. . . plus a POLL!)

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For any school to be competitive, recruiting the top talent in the immediate geographical area is vital. For Illinois, that means the talent-rich gyms of Chicago.

And Bruce Weber and company sure did their job with the class of 2011, landing four Chicago kids who are all consensus four-star players. The resulting class is ranked the ninth best in the country by Rivals, 11th by ESPN and 13th by Scout.

The biggest catch is Mycheal Henry, a 6-6 guard out of Orr Academy rated the third best recruit in the state for 2011 by chicagohoops.com and the 39th best in the country by Rivals.

Henry is a long wing who could end up playing the two or the three but is as explosive as they come. He may need a little polish, but this kid should make an impact fairly early.

The others are Nnanna Egwu, Tracy Abrams and Mike Shaw. The group is mostly underclass verbal commitments. After losing out on some of the big in-state talent in recent years --Derek Rose and Jon Sheyer come to mind-- it was important for the Illini to find a way to put a border around the Land of Lincoln.

Getting to players early was the solution and it looks like it may pay dividends.


Egwu, a 6-foot 10-inch center from St. Ignatius, has a big, athletic body and knows how to use it on both ends of the floor. He blocks shots and has a host of moves with his back to the basket.

At only 220 pounds, though, Egwu needs to put on some weight to bang on the block in the Big Ten.

Shaw, ranked number eight by Chicago Hoops and number 59 nationally by Rivals, is a 6-8 power forward with a knack for rebounding on the offensive end. He's also a big time player around the bucket. His defense and range need to improve and there's no reason to not expect that they will under Weber's tutelage.

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Besides the Fab Five back in the early 90’s, the Fighting Illini team back in the 2004-2005 season may be the best college team to never win a title.  The team featured three guards with loads of talent, with the three-headed monster of Luther Head, Deron Williams, and Dee Brown.  The team chemistry that Illinois had that year led them to the best record in school history, with only one loss coming into the NCAA Tournament.

That loss came in the final game before the conference tournament at Ohio State.  The Buckeyes rallied to win 65-64 in a hard fought matchup.  Since that Fighting Illini team, no team has come close in being undefeated in regular season play.  

The trail to being number one began in Assembly Hall in mid-November when Illinois started the season as the number six team in the country. Within the first three weeks, the Illini bolted up the ranking to number one after victories over two ranked opponents.  The win against then number one team, Wake Forest, set the tone for the season during the ACC/Big Ten tournament.  Illinois owned the court that night and won handsomely, 91-73. 

Illinois rolled over opponents time and time again until they took on a veteran North Carolina team in St. Louis for the National Title.  It turned out to be one of the best college basketball games in the past ten years.  The Tar Heels set the tone early with its fast-paced offense and went into halftime with a sizeable lead.  That lead grew in the second half, but the Fighting Illini charged back to make the game interesting, somehow mounting a comeback to make it 70-70.  But May, Felton, and company were resilient that night and won 75-70.

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It's time for your weekly serving of links. Illinois is on the menu this week, and we have enough links to satisfy your cravings. Your first stop for all Illini bball info should be our fellow SB Nation site, Hail to the Orange. Using our own advice, our first link is from Hail to the Orange.

Where is Illinois' Place in College Basketball?
Joe Kutsunis compares the last 15 years of Illini hoops with the previous 15 years. He also takes a look at where UI fits in the heirarchy of big-time college basketball.

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This year was as much a fight with themselves as it was with any other B1G (12) school. Hyped as a very good preseason squad, the University of Illinois Fighting Illini struggled with internal issues and consistency throughout the season. The experience of both the roster and Bruce Weber was not a telling sign of a successful season. A closer look at what exactly happened is just what is in store after the jump with help, as always, from statsheet.com.

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BT Powerhouse is spending one week per team in the conference during the offseason, and this week is Illinois week. We've got some interesting posts planned including a statistical recap, a blog interview, a recruting update more later in the week.

We'll introduce this week with the video that the Illini showed to pump up the crowd before last year's games in Assembly Hall.