Illinois Basketball: Illini move up in AP Top 25 poll after big win against Iowa
Despite the Illinois basketball team taking a loss this past week, we actually moved up in the latest rankings.
The new AP Top 25 poll was released on Monday afternoon, and it has Illinois now ranked No. 21 in the nation. This is a slight bump up from the No. 23 spot we held last week. The reasoning behind the move had to have been the big win on Sunday night.
Illinois started the week off a little shaky. We took on Ohio State in Columbus and had them on the ropes for a while. The Buckeyes would ultimately emerge victorious after a solid second half and some help from the refs. But this didn’t discourage the Orange and Blue.
With the double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament on the line, Illinois went up against a tough Iowa team who was ranked No. 18 in the nation at the time. The Hawkeyes came to Champaign and put up a fight. But the Illini managed to come away with the huge win that clinched the bye in the first two rounds of the conference tournament.
The No. 21 team in the nation correlates to a borderline No. 5 seed, but I believe they would be the best No. 6 seed. Despite the great win by Illinois on Sunday, Joe Lunardi of ESPN has us as the No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament. This is a little low, in my opinion.
Where do the other companies have Illinois in their bracket predictions?
CBS Sports bracketologists have Illinois slotted in as the No. 6 seed in the Midwest. This would be a great draw considering we get to play close to home. NBC Sports has us as the No. 7 seed in the Midwest. The final one I looked at is Fox College Hoops. They have Illinois in the No. 6 spots as well. They would be playing out East, though.
Next. 3 observations from the Illini win over Iowa. dark
Illinois is making the NCAA tournament. That is the most exciting part of all of this. Now, how greedy can we get? I think we can make a run in the Big Ten Tournament and get up to a No. 4 or No. 5 seed depending on if we win the title. Let’s shock the world.