Green Street Looking toward next March
May 11—'s post-transfer portal bracketology projections dropped in late April. That's the only one Creme has released as the ESPN bracket guru looks ahead to the 2026-27 season, which is still almost six months off. Of course, the NCAA women's tournament has undergone a major change since then, with last week's announcement the women's field will expand to 76 teams.
That's eight new teams in 2027. 's Illinois women's basketball team has now made March Madness in three of her four seasons as coach. Creme projects the Illini as a No.
5 seed heading to a sub-regional in Fort Worth, Texas, on the TCU campus with the Horned Frogs hosting as a No. 4 seed. That's about it line with where Illinois should be next season as a team on the 4/5 seed line.
Of course, the top 16 seeds get to host the first and second rounds, which is a clear-cut goal for Green's Illini. A goal that's also achievable with Illinois returning the top-eight players in last season's rotation after the Illini reached the second round of the NCAA tournament and finished with a 22-12 record after losing to Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn.