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Great for Michigan to be 9-0, but like you said, they haven't really played anyone yet. Last night was their first game against a ranked team. They have A LOT to prove before I believe they deserve to be a top ten team.
Yeah they are looking pretty good!
I know we lost to both, but it was by a single possession on the road. I'm not convinced either is a better team than ILL.
They aren't. Teams lose to worse teams all the time, otherwise the best team would always be undefeated.
I agree but the polls aren’t based on talent levels or potential. I think by the end of the year we will prove to be the better team but with our recent losses to both I’m surprised we jumped them. I consider it a good thing FYI.
Also worth noting according to kenpom we have the toughest schedule of any team in the top 47. Penn st ranked 48th is the first team with a tougher schedule.
Unfortunately polls are based on talent and potential. Do you think if Vanderbilt had the same record as Duke they would be 21st?
DaMonte guarding Wagner not going to be easy. Giving up a lot of height but probably not strength. Just need to avoid getting posted up. Rest of matchups relatively even size wise and we might have edge in quickness.
Well, they did play us, vs themselves. Just sayin'
With 2 of the most insane trash "flagrant calls" I've ever seen being the difference in the games( which we still would of overcome if we hit FT's)
No and I also don’t think comparing Rutgers and Illinois is the same as duke and vandy.
The polls give us something to talk/argue about, but they are the definition of meaningless. Imagining the sportswriters really know and have seen all the teams play is a stretch and with the coaches poll, I doubt many of them (the actual coaches not the lackey who submits the vote) even know how they voted. They certainly don’t have the time for it.
I get what you're saying here, but I think this is the wrong take in the social media marketing age. Being ranked significantly increases your visibility and national profile. There are a lot of fans of other teams talking about Illinois these days. That's a good thing for recruiting and it will only help Underwood in building this program back to where we all want it to be.
Makes perfect sense. But has it really helped us in the past year? Since Luke Goode committed, it's been pretty disappointing and we've been ranked in the top 10 a good bit of that period. I'm not trying to be negative even tho it may sound that way. I love what Underwood is doing and I expect him to continue to do well.
I might be wrong, but I wouldn't expect the full effects from our current season to be felt until a few classes down the road. And if we fall back into obscurity in the interim, then it might not happen at all. It's super obvious (almost to the point of not being worth saying), but we need to build upon our current success and turn it into sustained success. If I were a high-profile recruit considering Illinois right now, I would be asking, "is Illinois still going to be good without Ayo and Kofi?" Because I would expect to be joining a team without either of those players on it in the near future. If Underwood keeps this thing rolling, the dam could really burst open for us.Makes perfect sense. But has it really helped us in the past year? Since Luke Goode committed, it's been pretty disappointing and we've been ranked in the top 10 a good bit of that period. I'm not trying to be negative even tho it may sound that way. I love what Underwood is doing and I expect him to continue to do well.
