As I said in another thread, this aspect of the AP Poll is both infuriating and worthy of a weird kind of quirky nostalgia, haha. On one hand, I don't think we really want these journalists just strictly ranking "the top 25 best teams IMO" every week, or they'd literally never drop a Kentucky team full of 5-stars out of the top 25 even after several losses ("They'll figure it out! Too much talent on that team!!"), and teams like James Madison would never get the recognition they deserve.
On the other hand, though ... Illinois has a better resume than FAU and just outplayed them on a neutral court, looking fantastic doing it. So, with the AP Top 25 effectively being a points system where journalists subtract points for losses and add points for wins and a team going 1-1 will only move up so much, you get these ridiculous outcomes some times.
FWIW (and acknowledging that I am biased), I think Illinois has provided clear proof so far that we should be ranked ahead of the following:
#8 Creighton: They started at #8, and they dropped to #15 after getting destroyed by Colorado State - the only decent team they have played all year. They have regained their top 8 ranking because ... they beat Nebraska by a lot??
#10 Gonzaga: We are both 7-2, and they just lost to a previously 5-3 Washington team. The Zags' claims to fame are beating a fringe top 25 USC team that is falling apart (now at 5-4 with a loss to Long Beach State at home...) and keeping its loss to Purdue within 10...?
#13 Clemson: Literally here because they are undefeated, but their SOS has not been as good as ours. They jumped from #24 to #13 and passed the Illini for beating two unranked teams this week...? Bewildering choice.
#14 Kentucky: We are both 7-2 and their best win was over #8 Miami (FL), a team that has stumbled to #24 now after getting worked by Colorado at home. They also have a loss to UNC-Wilmington at home ... I should not have to defend this opinion to anyone, haha.
#15 FAU: I won't even go into this one, lol.
So, if we moved up five spots, we would be #11. Which is the resume I think we have achieved so far.
Just keep winning! A lot of winnable games in front of us, and we have an opportunity to keep rising. We are currently #18 in the NET Rankings, so this is a nice opportunity to get on a winning streak (NET Rankings used below):
vs. #119 Colgate (Quad 3)
vs. #91 Missouri (St. Louis, MO) [Quad 2]
vs. #287 Fairleigh Dickinson (Quad 4)
vs. #47 (AP #25) Northwestern (Quad 2)
I know NU is a good team and Braggin' Rights is always intense, but I think we should go 4-0 here. At that point, we would be heading into Mackey Arena on January 4th with an 11-2 record and likely an AP ranking of #10 or so to face what is almost certain to be a top 5 Purdue team.