Illinois Basketball: Can Illini make a deep run in 2021 NCAA Tournament?

Claim: Illinois will advance to the Elite Eight

If this article would have been written in August the opinion expressed would have been; the Fighting Illini are a top-ten team and despite the return of leading scorers Ayo Dosumu and Kofi Cockburn Head Coach Brad Underwood would not have his team competing for a Big Ten Regular Season Championship.

Such is not the reality in February, as the Fighting Illini are sitting with a 10-3 Big Ten record and in second place in the conference as they have two more wins and two more losses than the Michigan Wolverines. This success has allowed the Fighting Illini to remain in the AP top-25 for the entirety of the season, with their season low ranking being No.22.

The eye test alone is enough evidence to claim that Illinois is easily a top-10 team, as teams like Texas Tech,  Houston, Missouri, Alabama, and Oklahoma who all hover around the top-10, are not as talented as the Fighting Illini.

The greatest improvement has been their ability to score the basketball as they have raised their conference scoring by twelve points per game from just a year ago. This improved offense will be enough to compensate for the five extra points they surrender per game, enough until they get to the Elite Eight that is.