Illinois #18 in 12/12 AP Poll
Could be. Very difficult to rank this team. Work in progress, that may or may not make it's way to the promised land.
Great observation. Dude has some spin in his game. I don't remotely dislike that. Makes the program better and him more genuine in my opinion.
I disagree. I think we are going to end up a nightmare 4 seed for some 1. We have already beaten two top ten teams in tournament settings.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Maybe? We were #17 last week and did the following:
(1) Beat #2 on a neutral court.
(2) Got blown out at home vs. an unranked team.
If we win vs. PSU, we are easily in the top 10 ... so it seems kind of reasonable that our two results would net out to dropping just one spot, if you ask me. I think we can all agree that so far this year, we have played like a top 10 (top 5?!) team during stretches and a Bubble team during others, lol. I think our ceiling is quite high, so I really hope we get in a groove as far as mental focus, chemistry, intensity, etc.
Also, another poster brought up that we were closing in on MSU for all-time AP top 25 appearances. Some may call it a worthless stat, but I think it's a cool measure of a program consistently being "nationally relevant/competitive" over a long stretch of time. Here is the all-time top 25 list after this week, with current Big Ten teams in bold:
1. Kentucky - 945
2. North Carolina - 935
3. Duke - 866
4. Kansas - 826
5. UCLA - 724
6. Louisville - 656
7. Arizona - 573
8. Indiana - 566
9. Syracuse - 550
10. Michigan State - 490
11. Illinois - 489 (take care of business, and we pass them soon!)
12. Ohio State - 446
13. Villanova - 440
14. Michigan - 438
15. Maryland - 437
16. Cincinnati - 434
17. Purdue - 398
18. Georgetown - 397
19. Iowa - 387
20. Marquette - 380
21. Notre Dame - 378
22. Oklahoma - 375
23. UConn - 366
24. NC State - 346
25. Virginia - 332
31. Wisconsin - 297
42. Minnesota - 236
112. Rutgers - 36
114. Nebraska - 34
123. Penn State - 25
138. Northwestern - 16
And in case anyone was curious how this list looked through 2006, when we were arguably at our all-time high as far as prestige goes, it is below. It's kind of interesting how different programs have made up and lost ground over that stretch. It's also interesting, considering that I was in eighth grade for the 2005-06 season, that this list matches up way better with my perception of a kid of what the "good basketball schools" were historically ... Wisconsin was still VERY nouveau riche!
1. Kentucky - 718
2. North Carolina - 704
3. UCLA - 593
4. Duke - 566
5. Kansas - 522
6. Indiana - 477
7. Louisville - 461
8. Syracuse - 422
9. Illinois - 409
10. Arizona - 391
11. Cincinnati - 356
12. Maryland - 346
13. NC State - 324
14. Iowa - 314
15. Michigan - 312
16. Oklahoma - 289
17. Georgetown - 284
18. St. John's - 281
19. Marquette - 274
20. Alabama - 271
21. Notre Dame - 268
22. Michigan State - 261
23. Wake Forest - 255
24. Arkansas - 253
25. Ohio State - 249
27. Purdue - 237
34. Minnesota - 196
59. Wisconsin - 107
109. Nebraska - 29
111. Rutgers - 26
128. Penn State - 15
140. Northwestern - 11
Based on your extensive evaluation of TCU and Virginia Tech?
I think so too. If the committee were seeding teams, I don't see Illinois as a 5 seed. We're basically 2-3 vs tournament teams. That's not bad, and the losses are respectable. Hard to believe but currently last in the conference. On the plus side, the 2 good OoC wins will probably age well.
yes, thanks for the feedback! /We will be tied with MSU assuming we win Saturday (tied for 10th) and should pass them if we beat Mizzou!!