Illinois #3 in AP Poll

#2      
I think we'll get more than 1 first place vote.
 
#3      
I think we'll get more than 1 first place vote.
If (huge if) we can win out through the Duke game, we will probably be #1 in the 11/23 poll. An even bigger 'if' is if the football team can win the next two weekends, they can be knocking at the door of the playoff on 11/23 as well. The program(s) is in a great place regardless of what happens, but if everything goes right, we could find ourselves in the best position we've ever been in overall before Thanksgiving. Maybe a little too much optimism for a Monday, but I am certainly not going to apologize about it.
 
#9      
we actually lost a vote from the previous poll. lmao we literally won by a combined 117 points in 2 games.
Surprised. Thought we'd have 2. Lol
 
#10      
our 9th man liability is holding us back
I know we laugh at all of the chaos over the summer, but let's let this play out. These next 10 days will say a lot about where our roster stands. There isn't a player on our team that wouldn't be a star on FDU or Penn. We're taking a major step up in weight class tomorrow and are getting the supreme test next week.

Before we start assigning minutes, let's see how some of these guys do with the stress tests coming up. DGL was a superstar for us early in the season, while here, but couldn't find his way off the pine as the season moved along.
 
#11      
If you'd rather look at rankings that prefer us, go to https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cb, and click on the green arrows next to Illinois to sort the ranking columns by how each system ranks us (2 out of the 11 rank us #1). More systems typically get added on Tues/Wed, and even more will appear further into the season.
 
#12      
I know we laugh at all of the chaos over the summer, but let's let this play out. These next 10 days will say a lot about where our roster stands. There isn't a player on our team that wouldn't be a star on FDU or Penn. We're taking a major step up in weight class tomorrow and are getting the supreme test next week.

Before we start assigning minutes, let's see how some of these guys do with the stress tests coming up. DGL was a superstar for us early in the season, while here, but couldn't find his way off the pine as the season moved along.

I think superstar stretches a bit. His soph year his stat line prior to Christmas was ~5 ppg on sub 40% shooting and 26% from three and grand total of 1 assist in those 11 games.

We did play Baylor and Cincinnati already, and while they were exhibition games, those were high-major opponents.

Generally though, this sort of tempered expectations approach is a good idea. We don't have a lot of data, but the eye test is promising.
 
#13      
I think superstar stretches a bit. His soph year his stat line prior to Christmas was ~5 ppg on sub 40% shooting and 26% from three and grand total of 1 assist in those 11 games.

We did play Baylor and Cincinnati already, and while they were exhibition games, those were high-major opponents.

Generally though, this sort of tempered expectations approach is a good idea. We don't have a lot of data, but the eye test is promising.
Yeah and even if our freshman are good or really good, they’re going to have tough games. I’d feel way more comfortable about our non-con games with Mirk and Jake in the lineup.

Robert put it best on his podcast:

Go to any top 10 team in the country and remove their best player and an additional starter, then give them their first road game against a top 20 team. Would you be predicting them to win?
 
#16      
I know we laugh at all of the chaos over the summer, but let's let this play out.

Before we start assigning minutes, let's see how some of these guys do with the stress tests coming up. DGL was a superstar for us early in the season, while here, but couldn't find his way off the pine as the season moved along.
:oops: Sooooooo I take it you’re still listening to April’s socials as gospel? How’s she doing these days?
 
#17      
🤣🤣
Superstar DGL!!!

Loyalty is so Loyalty-ing today.
Never stop Loyalty-ing.
When you feel like you have Loyalty’d too much…always Loyalty more.
Loyalty.
Read the whole post. This very board, when DGL was hanging 20 vs the FDUs of the world, had this guy pegged as a huge contributor. When the season got really going, he never left the bench and his mom went off. I remember it vividly that he came in vs Nebraska (at Nebraska) and he provided a scoring boost and many on this very board question BU for him not playing DGL more.

First, read the post about the 9th man ordeal and is speculating that we srey double digit players deep in the rotation. My comment was to pump the brakes because many here thought DGL was going to be a breakout player, then literally blamed BU for not giving him more time given how he played early in the year. We have NO CLUE how a guy like Zens will be able to play vs the upper echelon athlete. Someone had JJ in the rotation. That guy, at best, is five minutes if we're in supreme foul trouble.

The overarching theme was, quit keeping the 9th man crap going because without Mirk, we still have to see if we have 8 that can a actually be counted on. Nobody was saying DGL was a superstar while he played here, but after early games vs teams like Eastern, you'd swear that people had him penciled in as a huge contributor.....including his mother and all he ended up being was a pair of shorts to keep the dust off a seat.
 
#19      
The Illini will remain #3 if they beat Tech but will only move up if they beat Doooook. I hope they can but without Mirk and on the road??
 
#21      
DGL is a baller and we're down a couple really important players. And yet I'm pretty optimistic the freshmen will give us the depth we need. I think our size and talent are still enough to wear down a top-25 team. QC has impressed me, and think he's going to have a game. Excited to see how they handle business on the road.
 
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