We are at a fascinating place with the Illinois basketball program, as the offseason is shaping our team right now.
There have already been a handful of transfer portal departures from the Illini, with Morez Johnson Jr. being the biggest blow. But that hasn’t deterred Brad Underwood from building the program back up and even stronger.
Illinois has added players like Zvonimir Ivisic from Arkansas, David Mirkovic from overseas, and a couple of solid freshmen from the class of 2025. These additions will help the team win games next season, but I am not sure if Illinois will start the 2025-26 season ranked.
On Tuesday afternoon, Jeff Borzello of ESPN released his way-too-early top 25 for next season. Listen, I realize this is a ridiculous ranking for numerous reasons, but it is always interesting to see where national pundits have the Illini.
1. Houston
2. Purdue
4. UConn
8. Duke
12. Auburn
19. Florida@jeffborzello ranks his way-too-early top 25 for next men’s college basketball season ⤵️ https://t.co/tatfPTkGYU— ESPN (@espn) April 8, 2025
Borzello doesn’t think too highly of Illinois just yet. He doesn’t have us in the top 25, but we are the first team on the outside looking in. So, we are essentially No. 26.
The fan in me says, what? Why? But when I sit back and think a little bit, being No. 26 actually makes sense. When I look at the roster, I love what we have for a few positions, but there are still some glaring issues.
Here is the thing, the offseason is long. We have plenty of time to fix the issues and bring in more talent from the transfer portal. Illinois is doing a great job building the roster back up, and I expect this team to be ready to go come October and November.
As things shake out, Illinois is likely to rise in the projected top 25. We need to add another shooter or two. Let’s go out and get some stabilizing backup players, too. This team is shaping up well, but we aren’t a top 25 program right now.
ESPN has multiple Big Ten teams ahead of Illinois basketball in the way-too-early top 25
While Illinois continues to shape the roster into a national title contender, there are other Big Ten teams ahead of us in this hypothetical ranking.
Borzello has Purdue starting the season No. 2 in the country. Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer are projected to return for their 25th season of college basketball. Joining Purdue in the top 10 are both Michigan at No. 5 and UCLA at No. 10. To round out the top 25, Wisconsin is at No. 14, Michigan State is at No. 18, and Ohio State is at No. 23.
That is six Big Ten teams projected ahead of Illinois to start the 2025-26 season. Again, the offseason is long, and the transfer portal doors are wide open. Let’s see what Underwood can do to make this team a true contender.
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