Illinois Basketball: Illini men on the outside looking in of latest AP Top 25

Once again, the men’s Illinois basketball team is knocking on the door of the AP Top 25 but can’t quite rejoin the club.

The Illini started the week with a decent win over Nebraska by 16 points. This victory probably put the program in line for a spot in the top 25. If we would have been able to take down Iowa on the road, then, I assume, we are talking about Illinois being somewhere around No. 20 in the country today.

But that didn’t end up being the case. The Illini went over to Iowa and fell to the Hawkeyes 81-79 in what ended up being one of the best games of the season.

The AP Top 25 voters seem to still regard Illinois as a good team, though. We were able to receive 25 votes to be among the 25 best teams in the country. There are only five teams ahead of Illinois in the vote count as well.

What does Illinois basketball need to do to crack the AP Top 25 by the end of the season?

There are plenty of big games left for the Illini to make it into the top 25. The hardest part for the Orange and Blue isn’t winning games, it is winning games consistently.

A win over Iowa would have nearly locked Illinois into the AP Top 25. But it is one step forward and two steps back at this point. The loss now has the Illini playing catch-up this week.

Illinois needs to take care of business on Tuesday against Minnesota. This game won’t move the needle, though. This is one of those contests that is a win on the schedule and any other result is a massive disappointment.

The game on Saturday, February 11 against now-No. 24 Rutgers is one that will move the needle. Illinois welcomes in the Scarlet Knights, and this is a chance to knock off a talented but very beatable top-25 program.

A win over a top-25 team, and a 2-0 record for the week, should get Illinois in serious talks about being in the next AP Top 25 rankings. At this point, we have to take it week by week. Let’s go undefeated this week and see where we are on Monday.