I think we can all admit that this rendition of the Illinois basketball team is pretty impressive.
I will argue until I am blue in the face that this Illini team has the best chance to win a national title since that 2004-05 squad. That is how much I believe in this Illinois basketball program.
Illinois notched another win on Saturday. It wasn’t overly impressive, as Minnesota hung around. This victory marked the seventh win in a row for the Orange and Blue and nine out of the last 10.
With this great winning streak, Illinois has seen a rise in the AP Top 25. In the latest poll released on Monday, the Illini are now ranked No. 11 in the country after a two-spot jump from No. 13.
Illinois deserves to be ranked at least No. 11 in the country. Do you know how good a team you have to be to play around B- basketball the last few weeks but still win Big Ten games, most of them on the road, by double-digit points? That, to me, is an impressive feat.
The AP Top 25 doesn’t mirror where the Illinois basketball team stands in the NET Rankings
The AP Top 25 takes too much emotion into account. There are voters who don’t watch games and just base their vote on one thing or another that doesn’t actually impact the game. There are also plenty of biases in the voting.
While the Illini are ranked No. 11 in the country when it comes to the AP Top 25, the NET Rankings have a more favorable view of the Orange and Blue.
After Sunday’s games, the NET Rankings now have the Illini as the No. 7 team in the country. We are the only program in the top nine that has more than one loss, and we are ranked ahead of UConn and Houston, which each have one loss.
There is plenty of dust in the air right now, and when the dust settles, we will see where each program is ranked in the ultimate final ranking, the NCAA tournament. Illinois is in a great position, and with the pace we are on right now, that position should continue to improve.