National pundit once again has Illinois basketball as a top Big Ten team

It is tough to know what exactly the Illinois basketball team will look like early on in the season.

Through the first month, it could be touch and go with the Illini. When you throw a few new players into the mix, chemistry can be an issue at times. But when you have to replace all but two scholarship players, you are bound to go through some bumps in the road.

Despite the expectation that there might be some issues early on, I fully believe Illinois will come out of the non-conference strong and enter the Big Ten slate as one of the top teams in the conference.

I am not the only one who thinks this either. On Wednesday, Andy Katz of the Big Ten Network published his power rankings in the Big Ten.

Katz put Big Ten teams in tiers. Heading up tier one is Purdue, Indiana, and Illinois. Katz says this is the tier that are true contenders for the Big Ten crown.

Tier two for Katz includes UCLA, Rutgers, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Oregon, Michigan State, and Maryland. Tier three then consists of Iowa, Michigan, Northwestern, and Penn State. Lastly, in tier four, Katz has Washington, Nebraska, Minnesota, and USC.

Illinois basketball is in the right spot, but I do have issues with Andy Katz’s Big Ten power rankings

I think the Illini will be Big Ten title contenders once again. We have loaded up with so much talent, and if we aren’t contending, it means it is a disappointing season.

Having Purdue and Indiana in tier one is a bit misguided, in my opinion. The Boilermakers just lost the back-to-back Naismith Trophy winner Zach Edey to the NBA. That is going to be a massive loss, and I don’t think they have enough firepower to make up for it.

I am curious to see if Indiana looks better than last season. They relied on Kel’el Ware a lot last season, and he is now in the NBA. The Hoosiers added some good players in the transfer portal, but I am not sure they will put Indiana over the top.

Michigan probably shouldn’t be in tier three either. The Wolverines actually have a coach now, and he has brought in some great talent from the transfer portal. I think Michigan is going to be much better than tier three.

It is all speculation at this point, but there should be some adjustments to Katz’s power rankings. Look for my summer power rankings to come out in the coming days.