The 2025-26 season is still months away, but the Illinois basketball team is already getting some love from the Bracketology.
I think every Illini fan can agree that the 2024-25 campaign fell short of expectations. Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley departed for the NBA and were drafted recently. Along with them, there were a few transfers, too.
Brad Underwood did a great job reloading. The offseason was good to the Orange and Blue, and now early renditions of the 2026 bracket are coming back favorably for the Illini.
According to Joe Lunardi of ESPN, Illinois will finish the 2025-26 season as a No. 4 seed. This would give Underwood his fourth top-four seed in the NCAA tournament in the past six seasons, which is an incredible run.
In the prediction by Lunardi, he has the Illini playing No. 13 seed McNeese State in the first round. This would be scary considering Illinois hasn’t fared well against No. 13 seeds. In 2022, we snuck by No. 13 Chattanooga, 54-53, in the first round. We won by single digits over No. 13 Air Force in 2006. So, that seeding is scary.
The second round could feature a rematch of the 2005 national championship. Illinois plays the winner of No. 5 North Carolina vs. No. 12 Illinois State. Either way, that would be a fascinating matchup in the second round for the Illini.
Illinois basketball is going to have to rely heavily on newcomers if we want to get to a No. 4 seed
All of this is obviously speculation, but Illinois being a No. 4 seed could be tough next season. We were a No. 6 seed with two first-round NBA Draft picks. We lost those players, so that is a lot of talent to replace.
I like what Illinois has coming in, though. I honestly think the emergence of Mihailo Petrovic is going to be key to success. Once he gets over here to the states, he is going to be a massive piece to the puzzle. If Illinois can get him going and facilitating, then we should be able to compete at the highest levels.
Andrej Stojakovic is going to need to develop a better shot, too. His dad was too good for him not to be a good three-point shooter. Stojakovic could be a massive piece to the Illinois offense.
While seeing a No. 4 seed next to Illinois’ name is fun, there is a lot of work to get there. One thing is for sure: the season can’t come soon enough.