The current Illini seniors were in sixth grade the last time the Illinois women’s basketball team made the NCAA tournament, and Matt Bollant was in his first year as head coach at NAIA Bryant College.

But that may change in Bollant’s first year at Illinois.

Just 23 games into his tenure with the Illini, Bollant has Illinois (14-9, 7-4 Big Ten) in fourth place in the Big Ten and, according to some experts, on pace to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003.

Bollant has only missed one NCAA tournament during his five years as a head coach. In his first season at Green Bay, Bollant’s team won the Horizon League championship but lost the conference tournament and was relegated to the WNIT.

One expert who thinks Illinois will make the tournament is ESPN’s women’s basketball bracketologist Charlie Creme, who assigned the Illini a No. 9 seed in his bracket released Monday.

But Bollant has seen bracketology be wrong before.

In 2010, Creme did not have Bollant’s Green Bay squad in the NCAA tournament, but the Lady Phoenix made it into the tournament as a No. 12 seed and upset Virginia in the first round.

Still, Bollant doesn’t completely write bracketology off.

“It’s kind fun to read those things, but there’s a lot of basketball to be played,” he said. “As we get closer, I follow it more. It’s interesting to see what seed they think you might deserve.”

Senior Karisma Penn doesn’t follow bracketology but is glad to finally be in the conversation for an NCAA tournament bid.

“It’s great to finally be recognized because we haven’t really had that,” Penn said. “I thought I would be in one before now. I didn’t think it would be my senior season, and I wouldn’t have played in it yet.”

Penn turned down offers from Connecticut, Louisville and other top programs to play at Illinois. UConn has not missed the Final Four during Penn’s time in college.

One unique aspect of Illinois’ tournament resume is that it was without senior Adrienne GodBold — the team’s top scorer — for the first 11 games of the season. During the stretch, Illinois went 6-5, a record that included losses to Illinois State and Bradley. Penn thinks GodBold could have made a difference.

“If Nunu (GodBold) had been playing the first 11 games, we would be at the 20-win mark by now,” Penn said, suggesting that the Illini would be 20-3 if that were the case.

Since GodBold has returned, Illinois is 8-4, with wins over then-No. 6 Georgia, then-No. 24 Iowa and at Nebraska, which has been on a six-game winning streak since.

The NCAA selection committee will take this into account.

“They will know what player was out and how that team performed without that player,” NCAA associate director Rick Nixon said in an email. “While teams earn their way into the tournament based on what they did during the regular season, seeding is a different story and can be affected by the status of certain players.

“Selection to the tournament field is based on what a team did, while seeding depends on who that team is now.”

This means Illinois will be evaluated on its entire body of work for tournament admission, but the team’s current makeup will decide the team’s seed. Bollant expects the NCAA to look more closely at Illinois’ conference play because of GodBold’s absence in the nonconference season.

Illinois has five regular season games remaining. Three home games are against Indiana, Wisconsin and Ohio State, which are not expected to make the NCAA tournament. The two road games left on the schedule present opportunities for quality wins at No. 8 Penn State and No. 18 Purdue.

Bollant said he is confident his team will play in the NCAA tournament if it finishes with a 10-6 Big Ten record or in the top six of the conference.

The Illini find themselves in good position to make the tournament. Illinois is tied with Michigan for fourth in the Big Ten and has the seventh-best RPI in the conference at 54.

“We’ve been on the upswing since Big Ten play has started,” Penn said. “But we have to finish the season strong.”

Johnathan can be reached at [email protected] and @jhett93.