The Illinois basketball championship is still months away, but I wanted to take a look at how we’ve been doing compared to some of the major conferences in the sport.
Over the years, the SEC has produced great teams and made it to the national championship, but has the SEC had to go through a tough Illini schedule in recent seasons?
How have these SEC programs fared against Illinois over time? Well, it’s time to look at Illinois versus the SEC.
Illinois Basketball vs Alabama Crimson Tide
Illinois and Alabama don’t have a long history. The two teams have met four times in college basketball history, with the Crimson Tide leading the series 3-1.
The last game between Alabama and Illinois was in the 2015 NIT. A leaderless Illini team was crushed by the Crimson Tide, 79-58.
The four-game series was close in terms of scoring. In the four games, Alabama beat Illinois by an average of 0.75 points. The series total was three points in favor of the Crimson Tide.
Illinois Basketball vs Arkansas Razorbacks
Although the last game between the two teams didn’t go well, Illinois has a strong history against Arkansas. The Illini have a 5-1 record overall in the series.
The last game was just recently, when Arkansas defeated the Illini 73-63 in the NCAA tournament. Before that, Illinois had won five times in a row against the Razorbacks.
Overall, Illinois has scored 44 more points than Arkansas in the six games, giving the Illini a 7.3-point per game advantage in each game.
