Illinois Basketball: Illini ranked in the Associated Press Top 25

The Illinois basketball team hasn’t been ranked in the top 25 in a long time.

A lot of Illini fans were checking their phones this morning to see if Illinois was ranked or not. This afternoon, the news was released that the Illini were ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Illinois is one of the five teams from the Big Ten that is ranked. The last time the Illini were ranked in the top 25 was December of 2014, which was five years ago.

The Illini are ranked after going 3-0 in Big Ten play in an eight-day span as they beat Purdue, Wisconsin and Rutgers. This is the first time in the Brad Underwood era that Illinois is ranked as the team has hit their stride at the right time.

Being ranked has to feel good for Illinois and Brad Underwood as the Illini came into this season with high hopes. They were ranked in the top 40 but were disappointing against power-five opponents. Underwood was facing criticism about his coaching and his in-game rotations as well.

Being ranked is great for Illinois as through the mid and late 2010s, Illinois was consistently not ranked. This ranking for Illinois is huge as it shows improvement and growth from the past years.

This is a confidence boost for the Illini. They already have momentum as they are No. 2 in the Big Ten standings sitting at 4-2. Illinois sits behind Michigan State – who beat the Illini – but just got blown out by Purdue. But that’s college basketball for you. The Illini are playing great basketball as a cohesive unit on the court. This is the first time Illinois has been competitive in Big Ten play in a long time.

Illinois will play its first game ranked this season against Northwestern Saturday. They will look to improve to 13-5 overall and 5-2 in Big Ten play and prove to people why they are ranked.