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Illinois Basketball: 4 ways the Illini beating Duke will impact the future

By Rees Woodcock

Mar 1, 2020; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood looks on during the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 1, 2020; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood looks on during the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Illinois basketball
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – FEBRUARY 18: Ayo Dosunmu #11 of the Illinois Fighting Illini celebrates a win after a college basketball game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at the Bryce Jordan Center on February 18, 2020 in University Park, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

On Tuesday night, the Illinois basketball team officially put themselves on the map when they took down No. 10 Duke.

This was such a big victory for the program and fanbase. We have been waiting so long for a legit Illinois bunch, and it is finally here. The Illini were able to not only defeat the Blue Devils, but they came away with a double-digit win, 83-68.

The impacts of this win go much further than just being happy the next day. The future is now impacted by this victory.

Here are four ways the Illini beating Duke will impact the future.

1. National standing

Heading into the game on Tuesday night, Illinois was ranked as the No. 6 team in the nation while Duke entered the game as the No. 10 team in the nation. The last time Illinois was featured in a top 10 matchup was back on January 5, 2006, when they took on No. 7 Michigan State as the No. 6 team in the nation.

The Illini went into Cameron Indoor Stadium and took down the Blue Devils by double-digit points. One of the ways the win against Duke will impact the future is the fact it will solidify Illinois’ spot in the national standings.

Let’s do a hypothetical and say Illinois fell to Duke on Tuesday. This drops the Illini to 3-2 overall and most likely out of the top 10 in the AP Poll. While dropping in the rankings isn’t devastating this early in the season, losing to two top 10 teams would have been.

With a loss, Illinois wouldn’t have been able to crawl back up into the top 10 very easily. Teams like Duke and Baylor would have been ahead of the Illini the entire season. But that didn’t happen.

Illinois was able to win the game, which solidifies that they belong in the top 10 nationally. It moved the program to 4-1 with a win over a top 10 program. I believe, moving forward, the win over Duke will help keep the Illini in the top 10 for a while.

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