Not every day of every season delivers something we’ve never seen — but Thursday somehow did.
Final score: Illinois 109, Oregon 77.
Given that Oregon is ranked ninth in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, and given that the game was played inside Matthew Knight Arena, Illinois on Thursday became the first team to ever win a road contest over an opponent ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll by at least 32 points. It was a beatdown, especially in the second half, when the Illini outscored the Ducks 64-39 en route to recording their third Quadrant 1 victory of the season and moving to No. 12 in Friday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings.
Oregon is down to No. 15.
As I mentioned on Friday’s episode of the Eye On College Basketball Podcast, the idea that Brad Underwood has a Big Ten contender one year after losing eight of his top nine scorers is pretty incredible — even more so considering his top three scorers, right now, are all in their first years of college basketball. If you’re wondering why Illinois was unranked in the preseason, that’s probably why — because the Illini lost a bunch and projected to be reliant on young players in a time when that formula doesn’t always work.
But it’s clearly working at Illinois.
The Illini will take a three-game winning streak into Sunday’s contest at Washington, a place where Maryland lost 75-69 late Thursday. Because of that result, I’ve removed Maryland from the Top 25 And 1 and replaced the Terrapins with Utah State, which means that former Utah State coach Danny Sprinkle, now in his first year at Washington, is directly responsible for getting the Aggies into Friday’s Top 25 And 1.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
5
Illinois
In: Utah State
Out: Maryland
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