Your 13-2, 2-0 Illini basketball team will probably move into the national rankings for the first time this season later today. And it’s well deserved. Other than the 8 minute collapse at Georgia Tech in the Big Ten ACC Challenge, this Illini basketball team has not really done anything wrong this year. The Mizzou win was solid and the Oregon loss wasn’t bad at all. Defeating the despised Hoosiers in overtime in the conference opener, and blowing out Penn State yesterday is enough to bump up Illinois from 26th in the Associated Press poll to the top 25.
However, they might not stay there.
The next Illini basketball game is at #4 Wisconsin. The road conference opener at their very own house of horrors. They last won there in 2010, during the days when Illini basketball started and ended with Demetri McCamey. They also ended the famous Badgers 38 game winning streak in Madison in 2005. That’s about all I got for Illini basketball highlights at the Honorable Senator Herb J. Kohl Student Events Center. Last year’s visit was……..well, the biggest lowlight of the season. I remember being hospitalized during that game and I could only stand to watch about three minutes of it. Wisconsin decided it shortly after tip off.
But maybe this John Groce team is different? It’s not a big deal if Illini basketball suffers it’s third loss of the season up there. They just need to keep it close and respectable. And then maybe they’ll survive in the polls.
Let’s reflect on what they’ve done so far. Penn State has been a real fly in the ointment for Illini basketball these past few years. By the way “ointment” was voted one of the top 5 most hated words for some reason. “Moist” was another.
Anyways, pounding PSU into a million little pieces for once instead of struggling with, or even worse actually losing, to them was a refresher.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also an analyst for multiple news talk radio stations across the country; with regular weekly segments discussing, Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Bears and Bulls on NBC and Fox Sports Radio. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)