Inside the Arc

Alec and Brandon talk about the Illini's 1-1 week with Ohio State and Michigan with a deep dive into some of the real positives from the two games and some things that are still raising concern for Illinois as the postseason quickly looms. Before the end of the show, Sim gives his Pac-12 update and of course the final segment of the show - buzzer beater. 

Alec Busse and Brandon Simberg are joined by Mike DeCourcy, FOX Sports lead Bracketologist and regular studio guest for Big Ten Network along and columnist for the Sporting News to talk about all things Bracketology. Find out where DeCourcy has the Illini seeded, what their seeding ceiling is and what needs to happen to reach that ceiling. Before the interview with DeCourcy, Alec and Brandon briefly react to the All-Big Ten teams along with the other awards that were announced on Tuesday morning. At the end of the show, Alec and Brandon reveal their Big Ten Tournament bracket by picking all 14 games. Did either of them pick the Illini? Find out by waiting until the end of the show. 

You can follow Alec on Twitter at alec_busse. You can follow Brandon on Twitter at BrandonSimberg and Mike DeCourcy's Twitter handle is @tsnmike. Thanks for listening to Inside the Arc. 

Alec and Brandon talk all about the Illini's Big Ten Championship winning victory over Iowa on Sunday night. They talk about what they remember and what they experienced when the court was stormed by Orange Krush along with a discussion into some of the x's and o's of the 74-72 victory. Later in the show, the two reveal their Big Ten awards ballots from top to bottom. At the end, Alec gives a pretty spicy Buzzer Beating take about the North Carolina win over Duke. 

Alec and Sim breakdown the Illini's loss to Purdue, something that Sim was adamant would happen. What kind of major takeaways do the guys have from the disappointing loss and is RJ Melendez solidifying himself as an important role player? How many more games can the Illini lose in conference play to still be crowned Big Ten Champions? All of that before a short conversation about a big-time official visitor in Champaign for the Northwestern game on Super Bowl Sunday. At the end of the show in buzzer-beater, Sim talks about the least talked about star in college basketball and Alec gets sentimental about what the future could look like for a couple of college basketball's more historic programs. 

Alec and Brandon recap the Illini's impressive road victory over Indiana at Assembly Hall to start the show before later getting into a preview of Illinois at Purdue game - a matchup that the two have a rare disagreement on. Find out who thinks Purdue is good enough to overcome their poor defensive play and who thinks the Boilermakers aren't doing enough to close out games. All of that before a loaded Pac-12 update following an all-time game between UCLA and Arizona and Buzzer Beater at the end to wrap things up.

Alec and Brandon are back to preview Illini's primetime matchup with No. 11 Wisconsin at State Farm Center on Wednesday night. Who needs to play the best for the Illin? Who guards player of the year candidate Johnny Davis? Who is the biggest wild card for the Illini and what can that player do for the Illini to come out on top against the Badgers? Answers to all of those questions on this episode of Inside the Arc and a "hot" take from Alec about this season's Duke team. 

Alec and Brandon reveal their biggest takeaways from the Illini's 2-1 stretch with wins over Michigan State and Northwestern and loss to Maryland. They talk about what the impact of the freshman could be with a tough month of February coming on the horizon before introducing a new segment at the end of the show called "Buzzer Beater" where they share a couple of their takes on the national college basketball scene.

Alec and Brandon recap the Illini's loss to Purdue including the return of Andre Curbelo from injury and what it means for Illinois in the long term and how the backcourt situation is going to play out later in the season. At the end of the show, there is a conversation about who is the best team that the Illini have played this season - Arizona or Purdue?

Alec and Brandon are joined by the one and only Ant Wright to talk about the storylines and where they come from before the Illini vs. Michigan game on Friday night. Later in the show, the conversation shifts towards what has gone wrong for the 7-6 Wolverines this season and whether or not Wright thinks the problems can be fixed before it's too late. And at the end of the interview, the next college basketball superstar joins the show for a quick hello and goodbye. 

Alec and Brandon do a brief recap of the Illini's wins vs. Minnesota and Maryland coming out of their 13-day pause, due to 10 positive COVID-19 tests within the team. After discussing the two wins, the conversation shifts to what has made Wisconsin's Johnny Davis so good this season and the rest of the Big Ten Player of the Year discussion. Finally, Alec and Brandon debate who the best team in the Big Ten is as of early January and what the conference picture could look like in a couple of weeks.