Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini loss to Virginia

5. Quality start to the Illini season

I want to reiterate, any loss hurts. I never want to see the Illinois basketball team fall no matter how talented the opposing team is that we are playing.

But if you are an Illinois fan, you have to be excited about this start to the season. We are 4-1 and already have a win over a top 10 program in UCLA.

As I type this, Virginia is ranked No. 16 in the country, but when the new rankings come out, they are going to be in the top 10 without a doubt. With less than four minutes to go in the game, Illinois was beating Virginia. If it wasn’t for a random scoring drought, the Illini could easily be 5-0 with two top 25 wins on the season.

Honestly, I didn’t think we would look this good this quickly. I thought it would take a month or two for a new team like Illinois to gel and work well together. But it is amazing the job Brad Underwood and the coaching staff have done to get this team to work this well together.

I am excited about the rest of the schedule for the Illini. We have a get-right game against Lindenwood on Friday. We then get a struggling Syracuse program in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

No. 11 Texas, who beat Gonzaga by 19 points, is a huge game on December 6. Besides that game, I think Illinois can run the table leading up to the meat of the Big Ten schedule.

There is a legit shot Illinois could end up 11-2 heading into the January 4 matchup against Northwestern. That is with me having them falling to Texas. I think we can beat anyone in the country, so that game is a toss-up. If we manage to take down the Longhorns and end up 12-1 in the first 13 games, then I believe there is a shot we are a top-three team in the country as we move into the New Year.