The latest AP Top 25 poll is out, and they have the Illinois basketball team dropping out of the top 10.
On Monday of last week, the Illini had remained strong as the No. 6 team in the nation. Their win against then-ranked No. 10 Duke was a huge boost for the program. But that all came crashing down when the Missouri Tigers took down the Orange and Blue on Saturday.
Illinois is now ranked as the No. 13 team in the nation, dropping seven spots. The team they lost to, Missouri, went from being unranked to the No. 16 team in the nation.
What does this mean for the Illini?
I wouldn’t fret too much over Illinois dropping outside the top 10. They are now 4-2 overall and have a ton of Big Ten games coming up where they can work their way back inside the top 10 and maybe even better than that.
The two teams the Illini lost to are both inside the top 20 now too. Missouri, who is No. 16, is the most recent loss, but No. 2 Baylor also beat Illinois earlier this season. While two losses aren’t good, at least they are to two of the top 20 teams in the nation.
Illinois starts their Big Ten schedule on Tuesday against unranked Minnesota at home. The conference slate starts off fairly easy as the Illini only take on one ranked team in the first eight Big Ten games. That means we need to get off to a fast start because, after that, Illinois then has five ranked opponents in a seven-game stretch.
Bumps in the road happen. All great Illinois teams have gone through the same thing but emerged on the other side just fine. While it isn’t fun losing to the Tigers, it happens. Illinois will rebound and start winning again starting this week.