Illinois Basketball: Why are the Illini outside the top 15?

Heading into a pretty big season for the Illinois basketball program, not everyone sees the team as elite.

We are now entering year five of the Brad Underwood era, and the Illini have made back-to-back NCAA tournaments. Last season, the Orange and Blue got over the hump and earned a No. 1 seed after running through the Big Ten en route to a conference tournament title.

After losing our best player in Ayo Dosunmu, the Illini return most of their contributing roster. The biggest returnee is big man, Kofi Cockburn. Despite Kofi’s return to Champaign, a panel over at Busting Brackets doesn’t see the Illini as a top-tier program.

In a recent post of the top 25 preseason power rankings, the voting panel that Busting Brackets put together didn’t just have Illinois outside the top five. They didn’t even have us in the top 10. We weren’t even a top 15 team in their eyes. Busting Brackets landing the Illini at the No. 16 spot in the preseason power rankings.

Is there a case for Illinois basketball to be in the top 10?

I think the obvious answer is, yes. Illinois should be in the top 10 to start the season, and it is based on who is returning to the program and what talent is being added.

Illinois is bringing back a tremendous amount of talent from the No. 1 seed run last season. Five of the top seven players who led in minutes last season return to the program for one more ride. Among those five players, four have been in college for at least four years and the other one is Kofi.

In addition to the great experience returning, Illinois also has four out of the top six players in points, four out of the top five players in rebounds, and four out of the top five players in assists all coming back this season.

The production and experience are coming back to Champaign, and that alone should put the Illini in the top 10 nationally. But let’s look at the new faces who will make an impact on this program.

Alfonso Plummer is arguably the biggest offseason addition for any team in the country. He is a graduate transfer from Utah, so Illinois will have even more experience on the roster. If Plummer can put up similar numbers as he did with the Utes – 13.6 points while shooting 38.3% from three-point range – then the Illini should be serious contenders for a top-five spot to start the year.

I haven’t even mentioned the young guns coming in. Busting Brackets did a good job bringing up the fact Illinois has Brandin Podziemski, Luke Goode, and RJ Melendez entering the program. All three are top 100 recruits and will make an impact. Illinois’ depth is going to be absolutely silly this season.

At the end of the day, the fact the Busting Brackets panel has Illinois outside the top 10 is absurd, let alone outside the top 15. The Orange and Blue are poised to have another great year and, dare I say, we might be better than last season.