I might have a slight man crush on Jay Bilas. I mean come on people he's got a Duke law degree. Simply put, he's getting into my tournament any day.

Well, Florida snuck in. Bruce Weber has no one to blame but himself. If I played for him, I wouldn't show up to the NIT. He is a failure of all sorts as a Big Ten coach. Let's revisit Alex Legion transferring out of the Big Ten. The reason being, he was way out of his league. Hey Bruce, you should probably take after him before the Illini nation starts calling for your head.

Hey committee, Minnesota just lost by 30 to tOSU. Hey committee, they beat up on a fading Purdue team playing without their best player. Hey committee, are you even still watching?

Minnesota getting blown out right before the selection show is fantastic. Never know if the committee has Illinois/Minnesota at that last 12 spot hinging on today's game. Do I believe they do? Absolutely not, but it's a hope right?

I have to believe that the committee knows Illinois has better wins than every bubble team - that's my ultimate hope. I truly hope they did rid of the "last 12 games" record and realize that it's the full season that matters, not a hot stretch in conference tournaments that, ultimately, don't mean all that much.

Illinois, VTech, Miss St., and Florida are all contending for 1 spot. The reality is, Illinois has accomplished more. However, I am not convinced Illinois will sneak in given that Minnesota has locked a bid. In a ten member committee with representation from several different conferences, it's hard to believe politics won't come into play.

Coming down the stretch, does Illinois make it? It seems the national media perception is pushing towards them being in - they have better wins than any other bubble team and it's not even close. The problem with conference tournaments is that they change the perception of an underachieving team throughout the entire year. Mississippi State, what have they done? Their best two SEC wins of the year came in the last 3 days, so how are they deserving? As well as Minnesota - they just lost by 30+ to Michigan a week and a half ago and all of the sudden we're anointing them the next great Big Ten team? People need to pay more attention to the regular season.