Illinois #6 in final AP Poll

#26      

Roundball Sage

R
Roundball Sage
Getting into the Top Ten has been the glass ceiling for years. Now the Beloved need to make being in the Top Ten their floor. Nothing less.

You will succeeed to the level of your work and expectations. They will put in the work. Now, keep those expectations.

Every Day Guys who are perpetually... 'Elite'.
 
#27      

RabidDawgClassic

RabidDawgClassic
RabidDawgClassic
mysterio2525 said:
I like our chances in a rematch against Tennessee. We played terrible at their place and we're still within striking distance... Plus that was early in the season.

No argument that uconn and Purdue were better
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Same. I think we were playing as good or even better than Tennessee by tournament time.

The Vols had the best shooter in Knecht and Purdue had our personal Kryptonite in Edey. UConn, of course, was everybody’s Kryptonite. It’s a shame that perhaps our best team in decades was effectively c@ck blocked by at least one and perhaps two unprecedentedly stellar teams.
 
#29      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
Another reminder of what a great season it was! This group will certainly live on in the memories of Illini fans, that is for sure. For reference, here are our top 10 AP finishes all-time, with the NCAAT finish in parentheses (and by the way, it appears that the "Final AP Poll" in past years was before the NCAA Tournament?).

2024: #6 (Elite Eight)
2021: #2 (Second Round)
2005: #1 (National Runner-Up)
2001: #4 (Elite Eight)
1989: #3 (Final Four)
1984: #6 (Elite Eight)
1963: #8 (Elite Eight)
1956: #10 (No NCAAT)
1952: #2 (Final Four)
1951: #5 (Final Four)
1949: #4 (Final Four)

I love 'em, but the 2021 squad's faceplant vs. Loyola really stands out. While we have underachieved a LOT with our top 15 teams, our top 10 teams have all at least made the Elite Eight except for 2021.
 
#30      

Illini2010-11

I
Sugar Grove
Illini2010-11
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Another reminder of what a great season it was! This group will certainly live on in the memories of Illini fans, that is for sure. For reference, here are our top 10 AP finishes all-time, with the NCAAT finish in parentheses (and by the way, it appears that the "Final AP Poll" in past years was before the NCAA Tournament?).

2024: #6 (Elite Eight)
2021: #2 (Second Round)
2005: #1 (National Runner-Up)
2001: #4 (Elite Eight)
1989: #3 (Final Four)
1984: #6 (Elite Eight)
1963: #8 (Elite Eight)
1956: #10 (No NCAAT)
1952: #2 (Final Four)
1951: #5 (Final Four)
1949: #4 (Final Four)

I love 'em, but the 2021 squad's faceplant vs. Loyola really stands out. While we have underachieved a LOT with our top 15 teams, our top 10 teams have all at least made the Elite Eight except for 2021.
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Correct

www.ap.org

AP adds new end-of-season Top 25 college basketball poll | The Associated Press

The Associated Press for the first time will release end-of-season Top 25 polls for men’s and women’s basketball following the NCAA Tournament
www.ap.org www.ap.org
 
#34      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
cuillini said:
Can UK match our NIL deals?
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Almost certainly. The insiders have intimated that we are "top 10 nationally" in NIL. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say these schools (in no particular order) are likely ahead of us, based on what has been said and what we've seen elsewhere:

Kentucky
North Carolina
Kansas
Duke
Indiana
Arkansas
Texas

Not sure about who else is on that list, but UK almost certainly is. I could see some basketball-only schools like UConn and Georgetown being ahead of us, as they don't have anything to spend on football. It has also been suggested that pretty much all of the Texas schools (Baylor, SMU, Texas Tech, A&M, etc.) all have so much oil money that some of them might be better, too.

However, we do seem INCREDIBLY well positioned nationally and within the Big Ten (there have even been suggestions that we are ahead of Indiana).
 
#35      

dmb24illini

dmb24illini
dmb24illini
RabidDawgClassic said:
Same. I think we were playing as good or even better than Tennessee by tournament time.

The Vols had the best shooter in Knecht and Purdue had our personal Kryptonite in Edey. UConn, of course, was everybody’s Kryptonite. It’s a shame that perhaps our best team in decades was effectively c@ck blocked by at least one and perhaps two unprecedentedly stellar teams.
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We played Tennesssee super close and it was on a day when Shannon + Domask combined for like 22% FG shooting. Their worst combined shooting game of the season by far. We could've beaten them in a rematch for sure.
 
#36      

Birdus

B
Birdus
dmb24illini said:
We played Tennesssee super close and it was on a day when Shannon + Domask combined for like 22% FG shooting. Their worst combined shooting game of the season by far. We could've beaten them in a rematch for sure.
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maybe but their defense might have had something to do with that and they were also playing much better toward the end.
 
#37      

MDchicago

MDchicago
Lake Norman NC
MDchicago
What's up with this Alabama writer's ballot for the final AP poll?? LINK

Has Illinois unranked, Purdue #8, Tennessee #18, while including 4 sub-.500 teams (including Rutgers and Maryland) in his final top 25. Assumed it must have been in error (e.g., too-early ranking for next year), but no mention of such on his X account.
 
#38      

Illini in Italy

Illini in Italy
Illini in Italy
MDchicago said:
What's up with this Alabama writer's ballot for the final AP poll?? LINK

Has Illinois unranked, Purdue #8, Tennessee #18, while including 4 sub-.500 teams (including Rutgers and Maryland) in his final top 25. Assumed it must have been in error (e.g., too-early ranking for next year), but no mention of such on his X account.
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He obviously an freakin' idjit
 
#39      

AirNeazy

AirNeazy
AirNeazy
MDchicago said:
What's up with this Alabama writer's ballot for the final AP poll?? LINK

Has Illinois unranked, Purdue #8, Tennessee #18, while including 4 sub-.500 teams (including Rutgers and Maryland) in his final top 25. Assumed it must have been in error (e.g., too-early ranking for next year), but no mention of such on his X account.
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I think he thought it was the preseason ranking for next season.
 
#40      

Genesis

G
Genesis
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Another reminder of what a great season it was! This group will certainly live on in the memories of Illini fans, that is for sure. For reference, here are our top 10 AP finishes all-time, with the NCAAT finish in parentheses (and by the way, it appears that the "Final AP Poll" in past years was before the NCAA Tournament?).

2024: #6 (Elite Eight)
2021: #2 (Second Round)
2005: #1 (National Runner-Up)
2001: #4 (Elite Eight)
1989: #3 (Final Four)
1984: #6 (Elite Eight)
1963: #8 (Elite Eight)
1956: #10 (No NCAAT)
1952: #2 (Final Four)
1951: #5 (Final Four)
1949: #4 (Final Four)

I love 'em, but the 2021 squad's faceplant vs. Loyola really stands out. While we have underachieved a LOT with our top 15 teams, our top 10 teams have all at least made the Elite Eight except for 2021.
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As you know, the sad part about this list is that we were so egregiously cheated on a bad call late in the Kentucky game in 1984 that the NCAA had to make a rules change to prevent it from happening again.
We should have been in the final four that year. We have a bad habit of receiving blown calls that force rules changes to save everyone else the suffering we've had to experience.
 
#41      

marvin1991

M
marvin1991
Genesis said:
As you know, the sad part about this list is that we were so egregiously cheated on a bad call late in the Kentucky game in 1984 that the NCAA had to make a rules change to prevent it from happening again.
We should have been in the final four that year. We have a bad habit of receiving blown calls that force rules changes to save everyone else the suffering we've had to experience.
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84’ team is still one of my all time favorites.
 
#42      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
Genesis said:
As you know, the sad part about this list is that we were so egregiously cheated on a bad call late in the Kentucky game in 1984 that the NCAA had to make a rules change to prevent it from happening again.
We should have been in the final four that year. We have a bad habit of receiving blown calls that force rules changes to save everyone else the suffering we've had to experience.
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Yep, Illini basketball has had some bad luck in the postseason over the years. I know EVERY program can point to "what if" scenarios, but we are VERY close to having a radically different resume all-time. If we don't get robbed in 1984, the 1989 team doesn't suffer injuries, the 2001 team isn't totally screwed with 36 team fouls and ONE of the many 3-pointers fall in the final minutes for the 2005 team, we all of a sudden have 7 Final Fours and 2 National Championships. That would, for example, give us more Final Fours than UConn and 1 fewer NC than Louisville.

Guess we will just have to rectify this in the coming years!!
 
#43      

AdDoBe

A
AdDoBe
Genesis said:
As you know, the sad part about this list is that we were so egregiously cheated on a bad call late in the Kentucky game in 1984 that the NCAA had to make a rules change to prevent it from happening again.
We should have been in the final four that year. We have a bad habit of receiving blown calls that force rules changes to save everyone else the suffering we've had to experience.
Click to expand...
Back when a 3-pointer from the logo meant something...