Illinois Basketball: AP Top 25 moves Illini into top 15

Illinois basketball continued to make their ascent in the college basketball world on Monday.

The Illini entered last week as the No. 18 team in the nation. On Wednesday of last week, Illinois was able to take down No. 11 Wisconsin by double-digits in Champaign. We then went on the road and took down a tough Indiana program in Bloomington.

This 2-0 run enabled Illinois to make a jump in this week’s AP Top 25 poll. The Illini went from No. 18 all the way up to No. 13 in the most recent rankings.

I honestly believe that probably wasn’t a big enough jump, but we are continuing to prove ourselves each week. If Illinois can keep winning games, we will win the Big Ten regular-season title, which is something we were robbed of last season.

Another big week ahead for the Illinois basketball team.

Illinois is now on a four-game winning streak that featured two wins over top 11 teams in the country. That is a pretty good run. We are finally healthy and playing well again.

The upcoming week is going to be a real test for the Orange and Blue, though. On Tuesday, the newly ranked No. 13 Illini will head to West Lafayette to take on the No. 3 ranked Purdue Boilermakers.

If you have been living under a rock, the last time these two teams faced off they went to double overtime. The game was ultimately won by the Boilermakers, but Illinois gets another chance to take down Purdue this week.

Ultimately, if Illinois can knock off Purdue, and then avoid a trap game against Northwestern, look for the Orange and Blue to have a single digit in from of their name in next week’s AP Top 25 poll. For now, though, we will have to settle with No. 13. That is okay, there is plenty of time to move up in the rankings.