12/28 Polls - Illinois #15 in AP Poll

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#3      
JFGsCoffeeMug
Meat grinder. B1G going to set up shop in the 4-6 seed lines come NCAA tournament time.
 
#7      
LostinNebraska
I need to make time to watch Houston. They've beaten TT. No idea how that translates into a #5 ranking given the degree of difficulty for Big12 and B1G teams this year.
 
#8      
illiniCA
why is UM ranked. Did I miss a game they won against a good team?
 
#10      
aaron2108
We are the only ranked team with 3 losses in the top 25. Two of our three losses are still undefeated.
 
#11      
Krombopulos_Michael
For anyone interested, Jeff Borzello at ESPN dropped a mind-boggling power rankings with Minnesota up to 15th (ahead of Illinois, who aren’t included in his rankings).
 
#12      
Calvin
illiniCA said:
why is UM ranked. Did I miss a game they won against a good team?
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Kenpom has UM #15 in its computer model. It may be a relatively soft schedule, but a lot of teams have those at this time of year. They're undefeated, and have a couple decent wins, but no likely tournament teams.

They haven't really had a test yet, and their BIG schedule is back-end loaded. Lotta UM fans are going be screaming when they run the gauntlet starting in February. Check this out:

@19 NW
17 MSU
15 ILL
@6 Wiscy
14 Rutgers
@25 tOSU
IU
10 Iowa
@17 MSU

Not that Illinois's schedule is all that much better, but I think we're better prepared, and we got a win over a ranked team, on the road, in the non-conf (Duke).
 
#13      
Goode-for-3
aaron2108 said:
We are the only ranked team with 3 losses in the top 25. Two of our three losses are still undefeated.
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Illinois has only lost games to teams that were both undefeated and ranked at the time that we played them.

The cumulative results of the teams Illinois has lost to as of today are:
Total Record: 18-1
Q1 Matches: 6-1
Q2 Matches: 2-0
Q3 Matches: 5-0
Q4 Matches: 5-0

I know there's no such thing as a good loss, but those 3 losses are about the best possible losses a team could possibly have at this point in the season. (The only way it could have been better is if Baylor played and beat Gonzaga).
 
#14      
thehass
I think this ranking is about right for now. The rankings also show how tough each Big Ten game will be and how valuable each win will be.
 
#18      
IlliniGman7795
Goode-for-3 said:
Illinois has only lost games to teams that were both undefeated and ranked at the time that we played them.
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I don't think Mizzery was ranked when we played. They were just outside the T25 but receiving votes. Then they jumped to #19 I think after beating us
 
#19      
Piotyr
Another perspective on where Illinois is at compared to the rest of college basketball:

Ken Massey keeps a tracker of all the different college basketball ratings, including polls, and does a composite ranking based on weighting all the rankings equally. The composite is updated weekly, and as of this week (12/27), Illinois is ranked #5 overall: https://www.masseyratings.com/cb/compare.htm

They are as high as #2 in one ranking, and as low as 23 in two rankings. #5 might feel a touch high, but this year it's effectively a top 2, then pick your favorites after that, and Illinois has both played a crazy schedule and has very good wins over good competition, without a single bad loss, all of which are road losses against top 20 composite competition.
 
#21      
Calvin
Piotyr said:
Another perspective on where Illinois is at compared to the rest of college basketball:

Ken Massey keeps a tracker of all the different college basketball ratings, including polls, and does a composite ranking based on weighting all the rankings equally. The composite is updated weekly, and as of this week (12/27), Illinois is ranked #5 overall: https://www.masseyratings.com/cb/compare.htm

They are as high as #2 in one ranking, and as low as 23 in two rankings. #5 might feel a touch high, but this year it's effectively a top 2, then pick your favorites after that, and Illinois has both played a crazy schedule and has very good wins over good competition, without a single bad loss, all of which are road losses against top 20 composite competition.
Click to expand...

Seems like the computers like Illinois. Kenpom at 6, Sagarin at 4.

Never hurts to have more pundits ranking the program high. I think all things equal, the committee likes to see those as confirmation of their seeding and team choices.
 
#22      
Goode-for-3
The following teams ranked above #15 Illinois lost in the past week:
#14 Rutgers (vs #10)
Voters may keep Rutgers ahead of Illinois due to their head-to-head win over us and the fact that they lost to the #10 ranked team, but we were only 9 points behind in the poll last week so there's a good chance we pass Rutgers this week.
#13 Texas Tech (vs Unranked)
Illinois will almost certainly be ranked above Texas Tech this week. A loss to an unranked team should be enough for us to make up the 171 points we were behind them in the polls last week.
#12 Missouri (vs #7)
Similar to Rutgers, Voters may keep Missouri ahead of Illinois due to their head-to-head win over us and the fact that they lost to the #7 ranked team. We were 238 points back last week and I think there's a good chance we pass Missouri this week.
#9 West Virginia (@ Unranked)
West Virginia now has the same 8-3 record as Illinois but Illinois has no "BAD" losses. (#2, #12, and #14 VS #1, #3, and Unranked) I expect most voters to punish West Virginia for losing to not only an unranked team but one that didn't even receive votes last week. I think there's a good chance Illinois makes up the 430 points in the polls and passes West Virginia this week.
#7 Tennessee (vs Unranked)
Tennessee drops their first game to an unranked team that received no votes. However, it's their first loss and Illinois was 567 points behind last week so I think it will be close.
#6 Wisconsin (vs Unranked)
Wisconsin drops their 2nd game this week and is now 9-2 vs Illinois' 8-3 start. However, Wisconsin has now dropped 2 games to unranked opponents that have received 0 votes this season. I think it'll be close between Illinois Tennessee and Wisconsin this week.
#5 Houston (@ Unranked)
Houston dropped their first game of the season and is now 8-1. They lost to an unranked team receiving no votes but they will likely remain ahead of West Virginia and probably stay in the Top 10 due to all the other losses this week. A 663 point deficit is hard to make up in just 1 week but it could be close.
#3 Kansas (vs #8)
Kansas has now lost to #1 Gonzaga and #8 Texas. I expect they remain highly ranked, despite the beat down Texas provided.

My predictions for next week's poll are:
1 (-) Gonzaga
2 (-) Baylor
3 (+1) Villanova
4 (+4) Texas
5 (-2) Kansas
6 (+4) Iowa
7 (-2) Houston
8 (+3) Creighton
9 (-2) Tennessee *
10 (-4) Wisconsin *
11 (+4) Illinois *
12 (-3) West Virginia
13 (+3) Michigan
14 (-2) Missouri
15 (-1) Rutgers
16 (-3) Texas Tech
17 (+3) Duke
18 (+3) Oregon
19-25 ???Not Going to Guess???
* I think these 3 could be in any order
 
#23      
GrayGhost77
I was thinking we'd be right around #11 as well, and I think that's about right. Let's beat the Kitties and Turtles, though, and leave no doubt in anyone's mind we should be a Top 10 team.
 
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