Busting Brackets
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NCAA Basketball: Updated 2020-21 power rankings after NBA Draft deadline

By Tristan Freeman

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - FEBRUARY 05: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats walks the sidelines in the game against the Butler Bulldogs at Hinkle Fieldhouse on February 05, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - FEBRUARY 05: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats walks the sidelines in the game against the Butler Bulldogs at Hinkle Fieldhouse on February 05, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /
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COLLEGE PARK, MD – DECEMBER 07: Giorgi Bezhanishvili #15 of the Illinois Fighting Illini huddles with Kofi Cockburn #21, Ayo Dosunmu #11, and Trent Frazier #1 (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
COLLEGE PARK, MD – DECEMBER 07: Giorgi Bezhanishvili #15 of the Illinois Fighting Illini huddles with Kofi Cockburn #21, Ayo Dosunmu #11, and Trent Frazier #1 (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

481. . . . Fighting Illini . 10. team

The Illini was one of a few teams with multiple key players make late NBA Draft decisions, with both Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn having the ability to either have the team in the top-10 or unranked and irrelevant. When the season ended, the prevailing thought was Dosunum was definitely gone, while the big man was more 50/50.

Yet with neither making it official in the past months, optimism started to grow. And this weekend, both star players decided to come back for another year, hence rising from unranked to the top-10. Dosunmu is a Big Ten Player of the Year candidate, while Cockburn can easily average a double-double next season.

The rest of the supporting cast is well-suited to help out the duo, including starters Trent Frazier and Giorgi Bezhanishvili. Damonte Williams and Holy Cross transfer Da’Monte Williams will be part of the rotation, along with incoming four-star perimeter players Andre Curbelo and Adam Miller. The one concern will be who starts at the small forward position after Alan Griffin transferred to Syracuse but if one of those freshmen guards excels, having Dosunmu and Frazier forming a lethal three-guard lineup wouldn’t be a bad idea at all. Especially when you have Cockburn inside.

All in all, Illinois Basketball went from being a mid-tier team in the Big Ten to one that can win the conference, and even more.

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