It’s just one man’s opinion, as they say, but when that opinion belongs to the college basketball voice at the World Wide Leader – that being ESPN’s Jay Bilas – hoops fans are going to notice.
So when last week brought the release of the Bilas Index – the list of the list of the NCAA’s 68 best teams of the season as selected by the former Duke center and longtime college basketball analyst – we were curious: Where does Illinois fit in?
The quick answer is this: No. 27.
And at first glance, that sounds about right. Consider that the Illini (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten) landed just outside the 2024-25 preseason AP Top 25 poll – ranked at No. 26, unofficially. That’s a widely crowdsourced projection. Also keep in mind that Bilas released his rankings last Thursday, before Illinois thumped SIU-Edwardsville, before Rutgers (No. 25 on Bilas’ list) fell to St. John’s and before UCLA (No. 24) was cut down by New Mexico.
But still.
A preseason media poll projected Illinois to finish fourth in the Big Ten – ahead of both Rutgers and Oregon (No. 26 on Bilas’ list). The Illini, even given the inevitable chemistry questions, welcomed a fantastic freshman class and several impact transfers to Champaign in the offseason. Given that level of talent, the program’s recent pedigree and Illinois’ upward-tacking momentum under coach Brad Underwood, any ranking outside the top 25 seems a bit of a surprise. Admittedly, after two dominant and dazzling games, anything else seems almost ludicrous.
Raised banners ✅
Handed out rings ✅#Illini | #HTTO | #EveryDayGuys pic.twitter.com/GGErQ5FIid— Illinois Men’s Basketball (@IlliniMBB) November 9, 2024
A few notes in Bilas’ defense:
In any case, it’ll be interesting to see how the first AP poll of the 2024-25 regular season shakes out when it’s revealed sometime Monday morning/afternoon. Bold prediction: Illinois will sneak in.
Just remember that it’s not where you start that counts but where you finish.
