There are a ton of expectations for the Illinois basketball team this season.
On Monday night, the Illini played another competition, this time it was against the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros. This wasn’t a particularly big game, but we had to take care of business, as they were going to give us their best shot.
Illinois managed to beat UTRGV by 14 points, as we moved to 6-1 on the season. Leading up to the game, we received some not-so-great news in regards to our national standing, though.
The new AP Top 25 was released. Illinois only has one loss this season, and it was to then-No. 11 Alabama in a close game up in Chicago. The four-point loss shouldn’t do much for Illinois’ national standing, but that didn’t end up being the case.
Illinois went from being the No. 8 team in the country to now being the No. 13 team. Think about that for a second. The now-No. 8 team Alabama barely clipped us, and somehow we tumble down five spots to No. 13.
Illinois basketball will have plenty of chances to skyrocket up the AP Top 25
I am not finished with complaining about the AP Top 25. How do you move Illinois down five spots? We have a win over now-No. 20 Texas Tech under our belts. There hasn’t been a single scare this season from a bad team. The only blemish is a close loss to a top 10 program.
It sometimes feels like the AP Top 25 voters just vote based on which way the wind blows. It is pretty mind-boggling.
No worries, though. Illinois has plenty of big-time matchups coming to rectify the strange voting by the AP Top 25.
This Friday, Illinois takes on No. 5 UConn. This is a rematch of the Elite 8 from a couple of years ago. The Illini need to get revenge on that ugly second half.
Following that tough matchup, Illinois then has No. 17 Tennessee, at Ohio State, Nebraska, and Missouri. That is a stretch of games that will not be easy and will test every ounce of Illinois’ ability.
In the next couple of weeks, we will see what the Illini are made of. This one AP Top 25 poll will be a distant memory as, hopefully, Illinois is making a home in the top 10 weekly.