Illinois ranked #10 in AP Poll, #10 in Coaches Poll (12/17 polls)

[Dan]

Illinois stays ranked #10 in the AP Poll-

1. Duke (62) 9-0 1,622 2
2. Michigan (3) 11-0 1,543 3
3. Syracuse 9-0 1,465 4
4. Arizona 8-0 1,371 8
5. Louisville 9-1 1,362 6
6. Indiana 9-1 1,321 1
7. Ohio St. 8-1 1,249 7
8. Florida 7-1 1,163 5
9. Kansas 8-1 1,110 9
10. Illinois 12-0 1,044 10
11. Cincinnati 10-0 967 11
12. Missouri 8-1 886 12
13. Minnesota 11-1 730 13
14. Gonzaga 10-1 710 14
15. Georgetown 9-1 579 15
16. New Mexico 11-0 548 17
17. Creighton 10-1 530 16
18. San Diego St. 8-1 493 18
19. Butler 8-2 361 —
20. Michigan St. 9-2 343 19
21. UNLV 8-1 315 20
22. Notre Dame 9-1 291 22
23. North Carolina 8-2 256 21
24. Oklahoma St. 8-1 244 24
25. NC State 7-2 198 25

http://www.illinihq.com/sports/illin...s-top-25s.html

[Dan]

Illinois stays ranked #10 in Coaches Poll-

1 Duke 9-0 774 30 2
2 Michigan 11-0 743 1 3
3 Syracuse 11-0 695 0 4
4 Louisville 9-1 640 0 6
5 Arizona 8-0 632 0 8
6 Indiana 9-1 627 0 1
7 Ohio St. 8-1 595 0 7
8 Kansas 8-1 552 0 9
9 Florida 7-1 532 0 5
10 Illinois 12-0 482 0 10
11 Cincinnati 10-0 460 0 12
12 Missouri 8-1 451 0 11
13 Creighton 10-1 351 0 13
14 Gonzaga 10-1 339 0 14
15 San Diego St. 8-1 296 0 15
16 Minnesota 11-1 273 0 16
17 New Mexico 11-0 219 0 20
18 UNLV 8-1 216 0 17
19 Michigan St. 9-2 187 0 19
19 North Carolina 8-2 187 0 18
21 Georgetown 9-1 180 0 21
22 Notre Dame 9-1 125 0 24
23 Kentucky 7-3 98 0 22
24 Oklahoma St. 8-1 94 0 23
25 Butler 8-2 89 0 NR

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaab.../coaches-poll/

[MrQuist]

Poll Date: Monday December 17 2012
Also #10 in coachs' poll

Rank Team Record Points First Place Votes Previous Rank
1 Duke 9-0 774 30 2
2 Michigan 11-0 743 1 3
3 Syracuse 11-0 695 0 4
4 Louisville 9-1 640 0 6
5 Arizona 8-0 632 0 8
6 Indiana 9-1 627 0 1
7 Ohio St. 8-1 595 0 7
8 Kansas 8-1 552 0 9
9 Florida 7-1 532 0 5
10 Illinois 12-0 482 0 10

[Botb9]

Also 10th in ESPN's power rankings.

I find it interesting that the only one who ranked Illinois at 9th was Myron Medcalf, who dropped IU from his top 10 entirely after their loss to Butler.

[lstewart53x3]

About what I expected. Was hoping Florida would drop down to 10, so that we could move up to 9, but it really doesn't matter either way. There's going to be a #10 vs #12 matchup on Saturday : )

[Cool Hand Luke]

The last-second win by Arizona kept us from moving up a spot. Oh well. It's not a matter of much significance.

[Barrelcortex]

Nice feeling seeing the Illini on ESPN this morning. Good to see Butler at #25, they'll keep climbing. Pretty funny that UNC is #19 in the coaches poll, a team that was thrashed by Butler and IU and has the same record as Butler.... #10 seems fitting fpr us given our last week.

[BananaShampoo]

So we've beaten two Top 25 teams and are undefeated, having the most wins of any other team and still can't crack further into the Top 10? What, do we have to win the NC to finally get ranked higher?

[BP3]

Originally Posted by BananaShampoo

So we've beaten two Top 25 teams and are undefeated, having the most wins of any other team and still can't crack further into the Top 10? What, do we have to win the NC to finally get ranked higher?

Win Saturday.

[BananaShampoo]

Originally Posted by BP3

Win Saturday.

That's a given.

[Trifecta23]

I believe there is some concerned how our team matches up head to head in the Big Ten. Most of us would be happy with a .500 record = 23-9. If we remain undefeated after the Minny game (Jan 9th) then we deserve to be in the top 5.

[hooraybeer]

Originally Posted by Trifecta23

I believe there is some concerned how our team matches up head to head in the Big Ten. Most of us would be happy with a .500 record = 23-9. If we remain undefeated after the Minny game (Jan 9th) then we deserve to be in the top 5.

that would include us beating OSU at home, no?

[Trifecta23]

Originally Posted by hooraybeer

that would include us beating OSU at home, no?

Correct! If we beat #7 OSU and #13 Soda then we will/should be top 5... This would make the #2 Fishigan on the 27th HUGE!!

[zpfled]

Originally Posted by Trifecta23

I believe there is some concerned how our team matches up head to head in the Big Ten. Most of us would be happy with a .500 record = 23-9. If we remain undefeated after the Minny game (Jan 9th) then we deserve to be in the top 5.

Yeah, that Minnesota team looks tough. Big, bruising, athletic, aggressive. I'm enjoying following them this year.

The Big Ten is scary. But, now, other teams will be scared of us, too. We have tough guards and a lot of momentum.

[zpfled]

Originally Posted by Trifecta23

Correct! If we beat #7 OSU and #13 Soda then we will/should be top 5.

After beating #12 Mizzou.

[Dan]

Illinois ranked anywhere from 5th thru 14th by the AP pollsters.

http://www.pollspeak.com/component/o.../t1,37/v,/w,7/

[troyk]

Originally Posted by Dan

Illinois ranked anywhere from 5th thru 14th by the AP pollsters.

http://www.pollspeak.com/component/o.../t1,37/v,/w,7/

Not sure how Geoff Grammer can justify putting Illinois at #14 and UNLV at #13. That makes zero sense.

[IlliNYC]

Originally Posted by Botb9

Also 10th in ESPN's power rankings.

I find it interesting that the only one who ranked Illinois at 9th was Myron Medcalf, who dropped IU from his top 10 entirely after their loss to Butler.

Where's the alumni support? Bardo and Gasaway both have us at 13.

[Cool Hand Luke]

Originally Posted by IlliNYC

Where's the alumni support? Bardo and Gasaway both have us at 13.

Voting with their heads?

Personally, I don't feel like we are a Top 10 team. And the only reason for that is our lackluster performance at home against weak competition. I just can't convince myself that what I am seeing is a top 10 team, even with our two quality wins.

But I don't know how these guys vote. Do they just look at records and where the wins/losses came from? Or do they watch enough to get a feel for how good a team really is?

That said, I can't imagine who I would place ahead of Illinois at this point in time. Right now they probably deserve to be there. I just don't see us as Top 10 good, though. I'm an Illini basketball nut, but I try to be objective. I'm just not convinced it's not smoke and mirrors. I guess I won't buy into our ranking until I see how we compete in the B1G.

[troyk]

If they are going off of record and resumes alone, then Illinois should be a top 3 team.

I think the stink of last year is still on this team, fair or not. Fans and media pundits alike are hesitant to buy in and I don't really blame them.

[Kirk]

This morning I heard Cowherd talking about how Gonzaga and Butler are two of the best teams in college basketball. This caught my attention because I thought he was going to say how good is for beating them, but he was merely saying how they keep their guys around for 4 years and develop them and so they are tough this year compared to Kentucky, who loses everyone every year. Anyhow, we should start getting some more love now that we have been #10 for two weeks AND we have beat two top 25 teams (more to come, presumably, with Missouri and conference season).

[IlliniSpine]

Originally Posted by troyk

If they are going off of record and resumes alone, then Illinois should be a top 3 team.

I think the stink of last year is still on this team, fair or not. Fans and media pundits alike are hesitant to buy in and I don't really blame them.

100% agree. I doubt many writers believe that we aren't CAPABLE of being a top 10 or even top 5 team IF we play consistently given the talent that we have.

Yes we have weaknesses (guard play, post play etc.) but what team doesn't?

However, our old MO is that we can't sustain our play at such a high level. Only thing that can cure that fever is more wins...and more cowbell!

[Cool Hand Luke]

I'm sure that is a factor for many. It's not for me. My opinion is based solely on what I have seen this year. My guess is my concerns about this team going forward are shared by some voters and a lot of talking heads.

I think 9-9 is a realistic expectation for conference play. I would looove for this team to prove me wrong. I am hoping for it.

Hell, just doing that would put us at 23-9 or 22-10 going into the Big Ten Tourney. 2 or 3 combined wins in the BTT and NCAA tourney would leave us at around 25-11 for the season. I'll take that all day long. Anything more than that is chocolate syrup on top of the cherry.

[IlliniRon]

Originally Posted by BananaShampoo

So we've beaten two Top 25 teams and are undefeated, having the most wins of any other team and still can't crack further into the Top 10? What, do we have to win the NC to finally get ranked higher?

Need to beat Mizzu, IU and Michigan and maybe then we are no longer a fluke. LOL, being 10th is a fine spot right now.

[Alaskan Illini]

Personally, I think we're over-rated by a couple of spots at #10 . . . but then again maybe that just a hangover from so many years of disappointment.

Doing well in the non-conference schedule is so important to us in a year in which the BIG is such a beast - the conference is going to destroy itself from within in terms of the rankings. A .500 record in conference will actually be fitting for this year's team, given the talent in the league this year.

I think if we get a couple of bounces our way during conference play, this could be a special team because of the potential of our guard play. A couple of bounces the other way and it could be . . . . ouch.

I'm proud of the team and the way they've played this year, and consider myself blessed that I can watch them on the tube so frequently (thanks to the ESPN 1,2,3,4,5,UVWXYZ and BTN channels :laugh. They're fun to watch, seem to be enjoying the game of basketball, and are doing well. What's not to like?

Oh, and the pic of JG and Lou in the orange jackets? Priceless!! All that's missing is the Chief

12-0 and ranked #10 ???? SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!