The Illinois basketball team has started the 2025-26 campaign off on the right foot.
Putting up back-to-back 113-point performances is something that is rarely seen in the college game. The Illini managed to accomplish this goal in the first two games of the season, and this offensive outburst has Illinois moving up the AP Top 25.
To begin the season, Illinois was ranked No. 17 in the country. That isn’t bad with quite a few missing parts, and the Illini having some big new pieces to the puzzle. Now, with the great start, the Illini find themselves up three spots to No. 14 in the nation.
This rise in the AP Top 25 comes a day before a massive matchup against another top-15 program. Illinois has No. 11 Texas Tech on Tuesday night in Champaign. The Red Raiders dropped a spot despite starting the season 2-0.
Illinois basketball still won’t be healthy for the Texas Tech game
Illinois has started the season 2-0, and we are averaging 113 points per game this season, but we still haven’t seen the full repertoire of weapons that can be implemented.
Tomislav Ivisc was out last game after playing in the first contest of the season. We finally got to see Andrej Stojakovic in game two after he missed the first game. And then Illinois fans haven’t seen what Mihailo Petrovic and Brandon Lee can bring to the table. Those two high-level players are going to be crucial to Illinois’ success this season.
The Illini will be without Ivisic and Lee once again against the Red Raiders. It looks like Petrovic will be suiting up, but don’t expect too much out of him, as he is barely practicing at this point.