Top 5 teams Brad Underwood has dominated with the Illinois basketball program

Brad Underwood is going to go down as one of the best coaches in the history of the Illinois basketball program.

The Illini have hit great heights since he took over back in 2017. The team is recruiting at an insane level, and we are winning on the court.

There are numerous teams that Illinois has only played once or twice and we are undefeated, but then there are a handful of teams Underwood has went up against and has dominated the series.

I wanted to take a look at the programs Underwood has had the most success against since becoming Illinois' head coach.

Here are the top five teams Brad Underwood has dominated with the Illinois basketball program

Northwestern Wildcats – 10-4 overall (71.4% winning rate)

Ahh, it is so sweet having Northwestern on this list. The Wildcats have had somewhat of a program resurgence in the last half-decade or so, but the Illinois basketball team has dominated them since Brad Underwood took over.

In the 14 games that Underwood has faced Northwestern, Illinois has come away with 10 victories and only four losses. That amounts to a 71.4% winning rate.

Underwood got behind the eight ball right out of the gates too. Illinois actually dropped the first two games of the Underwood era against the Wildcats. The first one was in overtime by four points and the second game was by two points in Evanston.

Since those first two losses, it has been a tear by the Illini. We went on an eight-game winning streak after that and have won 10 out of the last 12 against Northwestern.

Even in the games Underwood has dropped, all but one was extremely close. Two of the losses were in overtime and one was by two points. So, this could easily be a record of 13-1.

Underwood has had tremendous success against the rival upstate. Beating a team 10 times in 14 attempts is an impressive feat.