Indiana is not a good team, that win is meaningless on whether they are the best team in the country. Every team I listed would do the same thing to IU on the road.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Again, I’m a fan, but they’ve already lost 4 games and will likely lose another 3 or 4 by the end of the season. A 7 or 8 loss team will not be among the top 5 in the country…let alone #1.

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Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.- JD Vance
If you committed violence on that day, obviously, you shouldn’t be pardoned.- JD Vance on the J-6 insurrectionists

So? Florida just got beat at home by a Missouri team that Illinois beat on a neutral court. Nobody is going undefeated. USC was a bad loss, albeit with the Illini playing without a likely lottery pick.

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Freedom is our Strength.

KJ is a huge difference-maker, and seeing him perform last night really illustrates what a different plane he is on than his teammates. There is no excuse for them losing to USC at home, but with KJ I think that result would certainly have been different. However, they managed to lose to Northwestern WITH KJ so when this team isn't hitting 3's they have the potential to lose to teams you wouldn't expect. Indiana is a shit team but I was glad to see them beat their asses and get back on track. For those of us dreaming of a top-5 team, Michigan St. at home is up next, and that's a game they will HAVE to win to be taken seriously.

On another note, I had to chuckle when Luke Goode was described by the announcers as "beloved" by Illinois fans. Luke Goode made me want to pull my hair out each time he was turnstiled on defense last year. I didn't hate the guy because he did make some big shots and was always a willing rebounder, but he was a worse version of Humrichous and he was a bench piece by the end of the year last year. When he transferred, I was like "OK."

Ok start with the 2 teams on that list that have already beat the Illini. There is just not a world where they are the best team in the country. Be happy they are a really good team and may win the Big 10.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Bama lost by 10 last night and Florida was also knocked off. I'm under no illusions that the Illini should be in the top 5. Clearly they are a dangerous team when hitting on all cylinders. The Illini need to work on being more consistent the rest of the Big Ten schedule and when they aren't hitting from deep need to learn to dump it down low. Illinois has capable guys down there that can score.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I don't think they were the best team in the country two months ago when they lost to Tennessee by two points. They're a lot different right now.

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Freedom is our Strength.

I don't know who the teams you think should be in the top five are, but I'm 100% sure that whoever they are, they would not want to play the Illini in a second round Tournment game if that game were taking place tomorrow.

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Freedom is our Strength.

I don't follow college hoops well enough anymore to know who exactly the best teams are and I don't think it really matters who the best 5 teams are right now. It matters who is playing well in late February in to March. I agree with you that the Illini will not be a team you are going to want to have to play in the NCAA tournament, no matter who you are. They can clearly beat anyone on a given day.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I guess time will tell. I am not impressed with the Big 10 at all. I think the SEC is the best conference in the country. Their teams are going to get some losses to each other.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I'm also sure some unranked teams would love to get the Illini in the tournament because they're DOA if they get cold.

I sort of agree with this, though i wouldn't say the are DOA if they are cold because they are one of the very best rebounding teams in the country and have already won a number of games where they were ice cold from three. If they are ice cold from three they certainly open the door to lose to teams they shouldn't be losing to, and Northwestern is a prime example of that. in my opinion, if Illinois shoots 30% or better from three they are darn near unbeatable just because of sheer volume. heck they only shot 17% from three when they lost to Tennessee by a bucket.

Big game today at 11am on CBS. Spartans don’t really have any big wins this season and losses to Kansas and Memphis, but they are taking care of their business which is more than we can say about a couple poor losses for the Illini. Going to need to play solid D and it should be a raucous crowd atmosphere.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Big foul trouble for Jakucionis early. I think he will make a big difference in the second half opening up the court for some more 3 pointers. Looked like he had a nasty bloody scratch on his forearm. Riley looked great but stop throwing the ball away you dopes.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

They got sloppy in the last 5-6 minutes

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"Julian's thinking is clearer than Ricky's thinking."

Underwood's offenses always look disjointed to me. And it's not from lack of talent as much as it is from their overall approach to playing offense.

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They may have found something where the big to big High- Low.

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He has to catch that. Helluva pass

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Was Izzo angry at his guards? Going with Kohler, Carr and Cooper in the final 2 minutes was a huge gamble on both ends.

Good job, good effort.

You can tell they really miss Terrence TheRapist Jr. this year

There was a LOT to hate about today’s game. My opinion about Underwood’s in-game coaching ability has not improved. Will Riley is KILLING it in the first half, good thing Underwood acted as his cooler and threw him back on the bench while he was white hot and they were looking like they were going to really extend the lead. Michigan st. appreciated that very much, and Riley went ice cold the rest of the game, but at least he got his mandatory rest break in the midst of the best run he has had all season.

Also, the refs were DREADFUL today.

They really were. They seemed focused on fouling Jakucionis out of the game.

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For as poorly as they shot and handcuffed by fouls they were still in it until Underwood got Teed up. 17-27 from the charity stripe just isn't going to cut it in a tough matchup like this.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Well you don't see a team lose a big game and move up in the rankings but the Illini did it this week. Up two spots to #17 in the AP and up 3 spots in the Coaches poll also to #17.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

i noticed this yesterday and pointed it out to my son who is a college basketball junkie (i dont follow teams outside the big ten so much). Apparently there was a lot of carnage in the top 20 last week, a lot of upsets with ranked teams losing to unranked teams. had the illini pulled that michigan state game out they would have vaulted up the rankings. I dont worry about rankings too much. Just get in the tournament and after that what happens happens.

Think it was 20 of the top 25 had a loss last week. 7 of the top 10 lost (#1, 3, and 10 didn't). Upsets happen, and conference road wins are hard.

Still #1 in the JORR poll.

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Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.- JD Vance
If you committed violence on that day, obviously, you shouldn’t be pardoned.- JD Vance on the J-6 insurrectionists

Illini definitely has a lot of talent. More talent than at any time during the Underwood era. I think they missed Ty Rodgers in the Michigan State game. Boswell is their only true ball handler/ facilitator. Rodgers could have helped out there. They should be able to make a deep run in the tournament.

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