Illinois #3 in AP Poll
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.
Dan
Admin
Illinois remains at #3 in AP Poll
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NCAA College Basketball Rankings: AP Top 25 Basketball Poll
The official page for the AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll. Keep up to date and view the latest NCAA men's basketball ranking updates each week for the 2025-26 season.
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we actually lost a vote from the previous poll. lmao we literally won by a combined 117 points in 2 games.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I am surprised and impressed that the AP voters have had the discipline to (correctly) ignore exhibition results.
I would have bet you Baylor was ranked, glad to be wrong.
I would have bet you Baylor was ranked, glad to be wrong.
Chad Fleck
- Eureka, IL
I'm guessing they don't pay enough attention to know there were exhibition games.
Or that there's even such a thing.
Joel Goodson
- 9th man conundrum
our 9th man liability is holding us back
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
Surprised. Thought we'd have 2. Lol
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.
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.
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.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
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?
So 4 starters would have to foul out for us to reach the 9th man. Lets put that to rest until it happens.
Sooooooo I take it you’re still listening to April’s socials as gospel? How’s she doing these days?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.
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.
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.
skyIdub
"I can't tell you. Secret."
I tried! I swear! But I got to the “DGL was a superstar..” part and I laughed so hard I farted and fell down, my phone when flying under the chair and I just was able to retrieve it with a pair of BBQ tongs!
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??
If FLA losses to FSU, and ILL beats TTU… we should be #2.
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.
Duke also plays MSU**
Chad Fleck
- Eureka, IL
I tried! I swear! But I got to the “DGL was a superstar..” part and I laughed so hard I farted and fell down, my phone when flying under the chair and I just was able to retrieve it with a pair of BBQ tongs!
I recall people really liking the energy DGL brought, his effort, and his buy in to the program. That he was a good energy guy that gave his all. But there was also understanding he was the 8th best guy on the team. A good bench/role player for us but not a superstar. I think fans were more excited about him as an upperclassman for us especially if he took a similar leap as he did between freshman and sophomore seasons not as an All-American candidate as a sophomore.
I was just busting your chops saying DGL was a superstar with us which is quite the take. That said I do get behind liking the energy players. I absolutely loved freshman Sencire Harris for example. Was my favorite part of that team for similar reasons, but very much not a superstar.