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Illinois Basketball: New AP Top 25 has Illini in top 10

By Rees Woodcock

Feb 2, 2021; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili (15) is embraced by Illinois Fighting Illini center Kofi Cockburn (21) during the second half at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 2, 2021; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili (15) is embraced by Illinois Fighting Illini center Kofi Cockburn (21) during the second half at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports /
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After a great week of winning, the Illinois basketball team finds themselves launching up the latest AP Top 25.

Heading into this past week, Illinois had won two-straight games and moved up to No. 12 in the nation. This was a nice bump from being ranked No. 19 the week before. After taking down the Indiana Hoosiers on the road and then No. 19 Wisconsin at home, the Illini are now the No. 6 team in the nation.

This is a nice jump from last week. There were multiple teams who stumbled but Illinois kept strong and beat two tough Big Ten opponents. Seeing the Illini ranked inside the top 10 shouldn’t come as a surprise either. The presence of Kofi Cockburn and, potentially the national player of the year, Ayo Dosunmu, has been a blessing for the Orange and Blue.

What is ahead for the Illinois basketball team?

Sadly, Illinois doesn’t get a game this week. They would have played No. 4 Michigan on Thursday, but the Wolverines are having a COVID-19 issue inside their program. So, the game between the Illini and Wolverines is postponed for the time being.

According to the schedule, the next game for the Illini would then be at home against Northwestern on Tuesday, February 16. That is over a week from today, which is a massive layoff.

On top of Michigan postponing the game against Illinois, those are the top two teams in the Big Ten. The Illini are only a half-game behind the Wolverines for the top spot in the conference. If they could have played on Thursday, the Illini might be leading the Big Ten

dark. Next. 4 big statistics from the Illini win over Wisconsin

I don’t know how the regular season is going to shake out, but if Michigan can’t play a full slate of games, then I have an issue with that. Illinois had a chance to beat Michigan and take the regular-season Big Ten crown for a moment. Now that moment is gone. Hopefully, every team can start playing again.

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