Set up by our good friends at Hammer and Rails, this is your Big Ten Blogger roundtable.

1. For those in the tournament, what was your signature win that made sure you were dancing? For those out, what was that one loss that prevented you from going?

The key when the Illini beat Purdue for the second time, it seemed to alleviate any worries some of the more skittish fans had after the team posted the low score in Minnesota, and were beaten in Madison. That is what cemented Illinois in the top 25 and basically punched their ticket for March.

2. The conference jumped from four bids to seven this year, and it
could have been nine with the right breaks. What is the biggest factor
in this jump?

As far as why specifically the Conference went up, it is because it had a great out of conference season, which made every conference win more valuable. In a larger sense though, the key is the quality of coaching. Over the past 3 seasons, the Conference already with a few quality coaches, gained quality name coaches John Beilein in Michigan, Tubby Smith in Minnesota, and Crean in Indiana, hell even Lickliter is an improvement over Alford. The quality of coaching in the conference is very high right now, and that is translating into both good recruiting and wins,

3. Talk about your first round opponent for a moment. What advantages/
disadvantages do you see in facing them (Penn State and Northwestern
fans may talk NIT here).

On the brightside, WKU is a small team, that does not seem to play much defense and relies on the 3 ball. Unfortunatley it does have scoring bonafides and deep tournament experience as well as some speed  Tisdale and Davis, once again, may be the key to victory in this, as we slow the game down and look for high percentage shots.

4. What are your realistic postseason expectations?

Realistically we win our first round game but then lose to Gonzaga. We could however crap out Thursday night and go home, justifying the negativity of  the experts. We could however surprise America and surge to the Sweet 16, where we will be beaten mercilessly by UNC

5. How will your team get back to/make the step forward to the NCAA
Tournament next year? this is officially known as the Iowa and Indiana
question. 

The best answer is that the core of this team is still in their sophomore year and will only continue to grow and improve. If you throw in the highly regarded shooting guards next year, I look for this team to make a serious charge for a Conference Championship.