NCAA Basketball Power Rankings: Illinois rises, Dayton keeps impressing

Illinois posted the best week of any team in the country over the past seven days and that warranted a big jump in my rankings. While many might criticize that the Fighting Illini do not deserve to be the top-rated team out of the Big Ten, it’s hard to ignore how well this team has played lately.

Illinois is currently riding a six-game winning streak that most recently included back-to-back road wins over Purdue and Michigan. The team also beat Wisconsin on the road a couple of weeks ago during this same winning streak.

Illinois is 15-5 (7-2 B10) on the season and can boast three true road wins over KenPom Top 35 opponents. The Fighting Illini have also only just hit their stride and these power rankings weight recent play a lot more than my bracketology (based on resumes) does.

Illinois has simply been tremendously impressive over the last few weeks and deserves to be mentioned among the hottest teams in the country. Head coach Brad Underwood’s squad is getting the job done all across the country as it is living up to the preseason hype.

Leading the way has been star sophomore Ayo Dosunmu. A strong go-to scorer on the perimeter, Dosunmu is averaging 16.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game so far this season and can carry the team for long stretches. Additionally, Kofi Cockburn is an absolute stud in the paint with the ability to dominate the glass and finish off post moves. He might be just a freshman, but Cockburn is a physical presence that very few opponents can match up with.

Illinois is for real.