Surprised by this, to be honest, but I love it! I'm a broken record on this, but even if one wants to argue that it isn't THAT important to be ranked ... I think there is no serious argument that the benefits of having that number next to our team's name for the nation to see FAR outweigh any supposed silver linings about "not getting complacent" or "keeping that chip on our shoulder" or whatever other nonsense.
I would be highly surprised if anyone on here would argue that being ranked in any sport after 80% of the schedule is complete is not a good thing. And maybe I missed it, but have people argued that not being ranked in football is good because the team will play with a chip on its shoulder? I know some have said not being ranked in preseason poll or after week 1 in basketball isn’t that big of a deal and could be beneficial, but basketball and football are different in general and definitely in the case of the Illinois programs.
In football with fewer games, I’d say you’d like to be ranked preseason because as another poster wrote it is “loss insurance.” There are just fewer outcomes to move you into or up the rankings and where the Illinois football program is, being ranked at anytime is important to help build a positive narrative. And it is big for recruiting as Bret is trying to change the narrative from bad program that might occasionally have a good year to consistently good program who can honestly aspire to seasons of greatness. So, yeah, I’ll take a ranking in football anytime anyplace.
On the basketball side, with where the Illinois program is and the greater opportunities for resume boosting wins throughout the season, a preseason or week 2 ranking is not that important. I don’t agree with the “not being ranked will keep us hungry crowd,” it’s just not the end of the world if we aren’t early. Illini MBB has established a brand. We win and we’ll move into (see this week’s ranking) polls and move up them. At the level we’re recruiting, having #25 next to our name preseason is not going to alert recruits to who we are. They know who and what Illinois basketball is. It’s not a bad thing to be ranked early, it’s just not a big thing if we’re not as far as how the season will play out.
Illini WBB is still in the same boat as football. Shauna is trying to build a program and brand that all recruits and the powers that be know. So, again, rankings at anytime help greatly with the story she can tell. If the program continues on same trajectory as it has had, in 5 years it will be far less important to receive a pre- or early season ranking. We’re not there yet.
www.teamrankings.com
