After a volatile week in college basketball when highly ranked teams were beaten like drums, Illinois took advantage in the latest AP Top 25 voting.
The 6-1 Illini – who had a very nice 90-77 win against then-No. 19 Arkansas on a neutral floor in Kansas City, Missouri, last Thursday – re-entered the Top 25 at No. 19. That’s 12 spots better one week after they had received the 31st-most points in the voting.
College basketball is looking wildly unpredictable already. Mighty UConn lost three straight games last week. Fellow top-six teams Gonzaga, Iowa State and Houston lost four times between them. North Carolina and Indiana lost twice apiece. There are going to be a great many teams capable of doing damage when the NCAA Tournament rolls around.
The Illini, with so much positional versatility and three-point shooting, should be one of those teams. But a poor start in conference play for the Illini is the last thing they need. Their Big Ten opener is at Northwestern this Friday at 8 p.m. Central.
As one of 62 voters in the weekly AP poll, I had the Illini at No. 20 on my preseason ballot and since have ranked them 21st, 23rd and now 15th. They are one of my biggest climbers this week.
The Big Ten has four teams in the current poll: Purdue at 8, Wisconsin at 11, Oregon at 12, Illinois at 19. Michigan State was first among others receiving votes.
AP Top 25: 1. Kansas, 2. Auburn, 3. Tennessee, 4. Kentucky, 5. Marquette, 6. Iowa State, 7. Gonzaga, 8. Purdue, 9. Duke, 10. Alabama, 11. Wisconsin, 12. Oregon, 13. Florida, 14. Cincinnati, 15. Baylor, 16. Memphis, 17. Houston, 18. Pittsburgh, 19. Illinois, 20. North Carolina, 21. Oklahoma, 22. Texas A&M, 23. Ole Miss, 24. San Diego State, 25. UConn.
My latest ballot: 1. Kansas, 2. Auburn, 3. Iowa State, 4. Alabama, 5. Gonzaga, 6. Marquette, 7. Purdue, 8. Tennessee, 9. Wisconsin, 10. Kentucky, 11. Duke, 12. Ole Miss, 13. Cincinnati, 14. Florida, 15. Illinois, 16. Memphis, 17. Pittsburgh, 18. Oklahoma, 19. Texas A&M, 20. Texas, 21. Houston, 22. San Diego State, 23. Michigan State, 24. North Carolina, 25. UConn.
