Ok, I can accept, PRYCE SANDFORT as a unanimous selection, but JEREMY FEARS JR., given his dirty style of play, is a bit tough to stomach. Too bad one of our guys wasn't a unanimous selection."*Extra player due to a tie in voting"
Michigan State’s Fears Named Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Michigan State junior guard Jeremy Fears Jr. has been named 2026-27 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year, as chosen by a select media panel, the conference announced on Monday.bigten.org
Illini Basketball 2026-2027
Great answer by Tomi in that interview about wanting to allow Cam to play whatever defense he wants without him feeling like a liability
I saw that and was greatly encouraged. If he can make a noticeable and significant improvement, that could boost this team to greatness. Time will tell.
Crazy to think going into last year we thought he’d be our go to guy, all big ten or AA caliber player (not just us but some media). And now he’s like our 4th, 5th, 6th option…. Pretty pretty good.
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
you just have to look the other way (and cough)
I’m expecting Tomi to make it extremely difficult for Z to see the floor this year. Healthy summers are so crucial. He’s had zero before this year.
Similarly expecting another gear out of Andrej. If he and Tomi and play at even the level they did in the tournament this team will win an ungodly amount of games.
Similarly expecting another gear out of Andrej. If he and Tomi and play at even the level they did in the tournament this team will win an ungodly amount of games.
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
I can see situations where both on the floor .
I'm a big Tomi-truther because of how Brad has talked about his toughness and mentality over the past two seasons. If we didn't have Mirk and Z, I believe it would have been a different story with his counting stats, and he could have been more in the conversation of "best big in the B1G". Maybe not to the point of AA (Michigan) caliber but definitely better than observed stats. He obviously had a lot to do with Z but also Mirk coming to Champaign, and he had to have known that his role would change, so it seems selfless to me to accept that in the interest of winning, and continue to subscribe to it, as now we will have one of the best front courts in college basketball.
Humrichous was the board punching bag for a while, but to me it seems like he does a lot of Humrichous-esque things on the court that may not necessarily be reflected in the stats sheet, but certainly affect winning. He's got the versatility and hopefully also the conditioning to be high impact for us this year.
Sounds like we're going to see a lot more of them both on the floor together this year...
Z’s block rate was 12.9%, which was 4th in the country.
Tomi’s block rate was 2.6%, which was 509th in the country.
You're good, carry on...
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Another random but cool way to look at the turnaround Underwood was able to engineer here. Below is the Big Ten ranked by weeks in the AP Poll since the 2019-20 season, regardless of the time period covered (i.e., 2019-20 is just one year, 2020-21 includes two seasons, etc.). For context, I also included the rank nationally (tiebreakers for teams is overall record for a single season or how recently they were ranked or higher final rank).
2018-2019 ONLY
#1 Michigan State - 20
#1 Michigan - 20
#15 Wisconsin - 15
#20 Iowa - 13
#22 Purdue - 12
#25 Maryland - 11
#26 Ohio State - 8
#28 Indiana - 6
#32 Oregon - 4
#37 UCLA - 3
#37 Nebraska - 3
#42 Washington - 2
NR Minnesota
NR USC
NR Rutgers
NR Penn State
NR Northwestern
NR Illinois
2018-19 & 2019-2020
#5 Michigan State - 38
#10 Maryland - 31
#11 Michigan - 29
#16 Oregon - 24
#16 Ohio State - 24
#16 Iowa - 24
#24 Wisconsin - 18
#32 Purdue - 13
#38 Penn State - 10
#39 Illinois - 8
#39 Washington - 8
#43 Indiana - 6
#54 Nebraska - 3
#54 UCLA - 3
#61 Rutgers - 2
NR USC
NR Minnesota
NR Northwestern
2019-2020 ONLY
#1 Maryland - 20
#1 Oregon - 20
#11 Michigan State - 18
#12 Ohio State - 16
#24 Iowa - 11
#25 Penn State - 10
#26 Michigan - 9
#28 Illinois - 8
#30 Washington - 6
#38 Wisconsin - 3
#41 Rutgers - 2
#44 Purdue - 1
NR Indiana
NR UCLA
NR USC
NR Nebraska
NR Minnesota
NR Northwestern
(Since 2019-2020 Starting Now)
2020-2021
#5 Ohio State
#10 Iowa - 28
#12 Oregon - 27
#14 Illinois - 25
#14 Michigan State - 25
#17 Michigan - 24
#21 Maryland - 20
#24 Wisconsin - 18
#35 Rutgers - 10
#35 Penn State - 10
#39 Purdue - 6
#39 Washington - 6
#44 Minnesota - 5
#44 USC - 5
#49 UCLA - 4
#61 Northwestern - 1
NR Indiana
NR Nebraska
2021-2022
#5 Ohio State - 47
#11 Illinois - 38
#13 Michigan State - 37
#15 Wisconsin - 33
#16 Iowa - 32
#21 Oregon - 29
#22 Michigan - 28
#23 Purdue - 25
#27 USC - 23
#27 UCLA - 23
#29 Maryland - 22
#44 Rutgers - 10
#44 Penn State - 10
#52 Washington - 6
#55 Minnesota - 5
#66 Northwestern - 1
NR Indiana
NR Nebraska
2022-2023
#10 Ohio State - 51
#15 Illinois - 45
#16 Purdue - 42
#16 UCLA - 42
#19 Michigan State - 39
#20 Wisconsin - 38
#24 Iowa - 33
#27 Michigan - 30
#27 Oregon - 30
#30 Maryland - 27
#34 USC - 23
#42 Indiana - 16
#50 Rutgers - 12
#51 Penn State - 10
#58 Washington - 6
#61 Minnesota - 5
#74 Northwestern - 2
NR Nebraska
2023-2024
#9 Illinois - 65
#12 Purdue - 63
#19 Ohio State - 51
#20 Wisconsin - 50
#22 UCLA - 42
#22 Michigan State - 42
#26 Iowa - 33
#30 Oregon - 30
#30 Michigan - 30
#35 Maryland - 27
#36 USC - 26
#49 Indiana - 16
#56 Rutgers - 12
#57 Penn State - 10
#64 Washington - 6
#69 Minnesota - 5
#76 Northwestern - 3
NR Nebraska
2024-2025
#9 Purdue = 84
#11 Illinois - 75
#15 Wisconsin - 65
#19 Michigan State - 58
#22 Ohio State - 52
#24 UCLA - 48
#27 Michigan - 43
#28 Oregon - 41
#31 Maryland - 35
#32 Iowa - 33
#42 USC - 26
#48 Indiana - 20
#57 Rutgers - 15
#62 Penn State - 10
#68 Washington - 6
#72 Minnesota - 5
#78 Northwestern - 3
NR Nebraska
2025-2026
#6 Purdue - 104
#10 Illinois - 95
#15 Michigan State - 78
#16 Wisconsin - 72
#21 Michigan - 63
#26 UCLA - 53
#27 Ohio State - 52
#32 Oregon - 41
#34 Iowa - 36
#42 USC - 28
#50 Indiana - 22
#59 Nebraska - 15
#59 Rutgers - 15
#65 Penn State - 10
#77 Minnesota - 5
#83 Northwestern - 3
So yeah, most people will probably see this as a weird, pointless exercise, but I love looking at things like this with interesting stats (guess that's the consultant / analyst in me!). I think it's a cool visual to see the huge shifts with some programs, like OSU going from consistently leading the league in the early part of the decade to now being middle of the pack and outside of the top 25 nationally ... or Nebraska holding out as the only team in the league not ranked this decade and then exploding to tie Rutgers' 15 weeks in one season!
It's a shame 2023 and 2025 had such long slump periods, or we would probably be at #1 ... if Purdue stays unranked for most of the year, we will almost certainly take the lead back!
But as it relates to Illinois, heading into the 2020 season, we had just finished last in the league and hadn't finished a season ranked in almost 15 years ... fast forward 7 seasons later, and we are top 10 in the nation as far as spending time in the AP Poll and #2 in the Big Ten. I try to remember how B-A-D we were and just how grateful I feel to have that swagger again that I had circa 2005 as a junior high fan among a sea of Iowa fans in Iowa City!! Here's another way of showing the Illini resurgence! Adding context after the "..." to REALLY show how crazy this turnaround has been.
2018-2019 - NR nationally and #18 in Big Ten
2019-2020 - #28 nationally and #8 in Big Ten ... first NCAAT since 2012-2013
2020-2021 - #14 nationally and #5 in Big Ten ... first BTT Championship since 2004-2005
2021-2022 - #11 nationally and #2 in Big Ten ... first Big Ten Championship since 2004-2005
2022-2023 - #15 nationally and #2 in Big Ten
2023-2024 - #9 nationally and #1 in Big Ten ... first Elite Eight since 2004-2005 and another BTT Championship
2024-2025 - #11 nationally and #2 in Big Ten
2025-2026 - #10 nationally and #2 in Big Ten ... first Final Four since 2004-2005
2018-2019 ONLY
#1 Michigan State - 20
#1 Michigan - 20
#15 Wisconsin - 15
#20 Iowa - 13
#22 Purdue - 12
#25 Maryland - 11
#26 Ohio State - 8
#28 Indiana - 6
#32 Oregon - 4
#37 UCLA - 3
#37 Nebraska - 3
#42 Washington - 2
NR Minnesota
NR USC
NR Rutgers
NR Penn State
NR Northwestern
NR Illinois
2018-19 & 2019-2020
#5 Michigan State - 38
#10 Maryland - 31
#11 Michigan - 29
#16 Oregon - 24
#16 Ohio State - 24
#16 Iowa - 24
#24 Wisconsin - 18
#32 Purdue - 13
#38 Penn State - 10
#39 Illinois - 8
#39 Washington - 8
#43 Indiana - 6
#54 Nebraska - 3
#54 UCLA - 3
#61 Rutgers - 2
NR USC
NR Minnesota
NR Northwestern
2019-2020 ONLY
#1 Maryland - 20
#1 Oregon - 20
#11 Michigan State - 18
#12 Ohio State - 16
#24 Iowa - 11
#25 Penn State - 10
#26 Michigan - 9
#28 Illinois - 8
#30 Washington - 6
#38 Wisconsin - 3
#41 Rutgers - 2
#44 Purdue - 1
NR Indiana
NR UCLA
NR USC
NR Nebraska
NR Minnesota
NR Northwestern
(Since 2019-2020 Starting Now)
2020-2021
#5 Ohio State
#10 Iowa - 28
#12 Oregon - 27
#14 Illinois - 25
#14 Michigan State - 25
#17 Michigan - 24
#21 Maryland - 20
#24 Wisconsin - 18
#35 Rutgers - 10
#35 Penn State - 10
#39 Purdue - 6
#39 Washington - 6
#44 Minnesota - 5
#44 USC - 5
#49 UCLA - 4
#61 Northwestern - 1
NR Indiana
NR Nebraska
2021-2022
#5 Ohio State - 47
#11 Illinois - 38
#13 Michigan State - 37
#15 Wisconsin - 33
#16 Iowa - 32
#21 Oregon - 29
#22 Michigan - 28
#23 Purdue - 25
#27 USC - 23
#27 UCLA - 23
#29 Maryland - 22
#44 Rutgers - 10
#44 Penn State - 10
#52 Washington - 6
#55 Minnesota - 5
#66 Northwestern - 1
NR Indiana
NR Nebraska
2022-2023
#10 Ohio State - 51
#15 Illinois - 45
#16 Purdue - 42
#16 UCLA - 42
#19 Michigan State - 39
#20 Wisconsin - 38
#24 Iowa - 33
#27 Michigan - 30
#27 Oregon - 30
#30 Maryland - 27
#34 USC - 23
#42 Indiana - 16
#50 Rutgers - 12
#51 Penn State - 10
#58 Washington - 6
#61 Minnesota - 5
#74 Northwestern - 2
NR Nebraska
2023-2024
#9 Illinois - 65
#12 Purdue - 63
#19 Ohio State - 51
#20 Wisconsin - 50
#22 UCLA - 42
#22 Michigan State - 42
#26 Iowa - 33
#30 Oregon - 30
#30 Michigan - 30
#35 Maryland - 27
#36 USC - 26
#49 Indiana - 16
#56 Rutgers - 12
#57 Penn State - 10
#64 Washington - 6
#69 Minnesota - 5
#76 Northwestern - 3
NR Nebraska
2024-2025
#9 Purdue = 84
#11 Illinois - 75
#15 Wisconsin - 65
#19 Michigan State - 58
#22 Ohio State - 52
#24 UCLA - 48
#27 Michigan - 43
#28 Oregon - 41
#31 Maryland - 35
#32 Iowa - 33
#42 USC - 26
#48 Indiana - 20
#57 Rutgers - 15
#62 Penn State - 10
#68 Washington - 6
#72 Minnesota - 5
#78 Northwestern - 3
NR Nebraska
2025-2026
#6 Purdue - 104
#10 Illinois - 95
#15 Michigan State - 78
#16 Wisconsin - 72
#21 Michigan - 63
#26 UCLA - 53
#27 Ohio State - 52
#32 Oregon - 41
#34 Iowa - 36
#42 USC - 28
#50 Indiana - 22
#59 Nebraska - 15
#59 Rutgers - 15
#65 Penn State - 10
#77 Minnesota - 5
#83 Northwestern - 3
So yeah, most people will probably see this as a weird, pointless exercise, but I love looking at things like this with interesting stats (guess that's the consultant / analyst in me!). I think it's a cool visual to see the huge shifts with some programs, like OSU going from consistently leading the league in the early part of the decade to now being middle of the pack and outside of the top 25 nationally ... or Nebraska holding out as the only team in the league not ranked this decade and then exploding to tie Rutgers' 15 weeks in one season!
It's a shame 2023 and 2025 had such long slump periods, or we would probably be at #1 ... if Purdue stays unranked for most of the year, we will almost certainly take the lead back!But as it relates to Illinois, heading into the 2020 season, we had just finished last in the league and hadn't finished a season ranked in almost 15 years ... fast forward 7 seasons later, and we are top 10 in the nation as far as spending time in the AP Poll and #2 in the Big Ten. I try to remember how B-A-D we were and just how grateful I feel to have that swagger again that I had circa 2005 as a junior high fan among a sea of Iowa fans in Iowa City!! Here's another way of showing the Illini resurgence! Adding context after the "..." to REALLY show how crazy this turnaround has been.
2018-2019 - NR nationally and #18 in Big Ten
2019-2020 - #28 nationally and #8 in Big Ten ... first NCAAT since 2012-2013
2020-2021 - #14 nationally and #5 in Big Ten ... first BTT Championship since 2004-2005
2021-2022 - #11 nationally and #2 in Big Ten ... first Big Ten Championship since 2004-2005
2022-2023 - #15 nationally and #2 in Big Ten
2023-2024 - #9 nationally and #1 in Big Ten ... first Elite Eight since 2004-2005 and another BTT Championship
2024-2025 - #11 nationally and #2 in Big Ten
2025-2026 - #10 nationally and #2 in Big Ten ... first Final Four since 2004-2005
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KenPom’s HUMAN poll has Illinois at #5:
Blog on what the HUMAN poll actually means:
Blog on what the HUMAN poll actually means:
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Also, this clip of Braggin' Rights reminded me, I have two scalding hot takes for this season that most here will hate, haha ... I want both Mizzou and Iowa to be top 25 teams all year (and of course lose to us!!). I get that fans like to see rival teams fail, but these are our two most high-profile rivalries at the moment, and I think it helps our program's brand / exposure if both are perceived well nationally.
It does us absolutely no good for Braggin' Rights to be a Quad 3 snooze fest when it could be one of the most hyped non-conference events every season ... the setup is just way too cool and way too unique to let it lose its luster because Mizzou is always terrible. For Iowa, I just want to have a meaningful Big Ten rivalry game that I look forward to where I know the other team feels the same. Northwestern sucks and the game never has that "extra juice," and Indiana is so far up their own a$$ that they get off saying it's "not a rivalry," as if WE would need THEM to elevate our status these days.
Iowa fans genuinely think of us as their biggest rival in hoops (from my experience), and I am happy to return the favor to maintain an awesome and mutual rivalry that gives us more of a spotlight.ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Wash my mouth out with soap for defending Mizzou, but I don't think this is fair to Dennis Gates at all. They have made the tourney with a winning record in a tough SEC in 3 of his 4 years there.
I love this message. as someone who has worked in a few different high pressur jobs, large corporations, etc.. happiness and mental stability are so underrated. I learned a long time ago money was needed for me to exist but wasn't really a needle mover on my larger scale of life. I'm at a place where the people are on such a similar chill vibe that I've never seen and is hard to want to leave.
Stefan Vaaks won preseason transfer of the year.
Illinois men's basketball projected to win Big Ten in poll of conference media
Illinois returns five rotation players from last season's Final Four team247sports.com
For those wondering and as a TLDR, the H.U.M.A.N. poll is not indicative of where we'll be ranked in KenPom pre-season. It's essentially a list of 50 matchups and users decide which of the two will be better, and then KP uses that to create a "human" ranking system.KenPom’s HUMAN poll has Illinois at #5:
View attachment 51949
Blog on what the HUMAN poll actually means:
Last year we were ranked 18th in the H.U.M.A.N. poll and 6th in KenPom pre-season.
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
all well and good, but who's preseason 9th man of the year?
Yeah, so don’t leave and wait for your dad to retire so you can be the next coach Underwood here at the U of I.
