Over the last few seasons, the Illinois basketball team has caught the eye of the national media once again.
We drifted off into outer space after the 2005-06 campaign, the final one of Dee Brown’s great career with the Illini. For nearly two decades, no one outside the Illinois fanbase really cared what was going on in Champaign.
An Elite 8 appearance two seasons ago and a Final Four run back in March put Illinois basketball back on the map. We are now an elite program, and the rankings continue to prove such.
Numerous preseason rankings have been released, and Illinois is in the top 10, if not the top five, in nearly every single one. On Thursday, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports and FanDuel released his Rothstein 45. These are the best 45 teams in college basketball.
Florida and Duke take the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively. Checking in at No. 3? Sure enough, it is Illinois.
We are ahead of UConn, Michigan State, and Arizona, in that order. Also, No. 7 is a Michigan team still looking for guidance after a title win.
Illinois has the national attention that I didn’t think was possible just a few years ago. Now, we are one of the darlings of the college basketball world.
The Illinois basketball roster being stacked has a lot to do with the preseason hype
What we are looking at when it comes to rankings is pretty irrelevant when it is all said and done. Could Illinois be a top-three team in the country? Sure, I believe they are, but there are three seasons still to play out in 2026-27: the regular season, Big Ten Tournament, and NCAA tournament.
Illinois’ roster is loaded up, ready to make another run at a national title, though. We have quite an impressive group.
Most of the players who played on that Final Four team are back. David Mirkovic, Andre Stojakovic, Tomislav Ivisic, Zvonimir Ivisic, and Jake Davis were all key cogs.
Brad Underwood filled the holes left by Keaton Wagler, Kylan Boswell, and Ben Humrichous. A five-star guard, Quentin Coleman, joined the party and should start. Illinois landed one of the top transfer portal players in Stefan Vaaks, too.
There is hype, and then there is reality. In some cases, hype can match reality. That is when you get something special. Illinois has a nice blend of both heading into, arguably, the biggest season in program history.
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