AP Top 25 sets up elite matchup between Illinois basketball and Alabama

Illinois basketball limped our way to a victory last week with a win over Oakland.

This game didn’t go as smoothly as one would have hoped. The Illini came out and didn’t play well offensively. This didn’t deter the defense from shutting down the Golden Grizzles, holding them to just 54 points on the night.

Despite some struggles against Oakland, the AP Top 25 was friendly to the Illini. We moved up one spot from being the first team out of the ranking to now being the No. 25 team in the country.

This is the first time Illinois has been ranked this season and since they finished No. 6 in the country after the Elite 8 run back in March.

Illinois basketball jumping into the AP Top 25 sets up huge game against Alabama

The Illinois non-conference was always going to be an interesting road with so much tough competition. Now that we are the No. 25 team in the nation, this sets up a massive game on Wednesday.

Not only did the Illini get into the AP Top 25, but Alabama only dropped a few spots to No. 8 in the country. After a tough loss to Purdue, the Crimson Tide are still a top 10 team in the country.

On Wednesday, Illinois heads down to Birmingham to take on Alabama on the SEC Network. This will be the first regular season matchup Illinois has played against a ranked opponent since March 5 when we fell to No. 3 Purdue 77-71.

Illinois has actually struggled recently against ranked teams in the regular season. We have dropped the last three regular season ranked matchups. The last victory came against No. 11 Florida Atlantic in December 2023.

With so much on the line, the Illinois matchup against Alabama is set up to be a preview of what could come in March 2025. Let’s see how these two powerhouse programs fare on Wednesday.