NCAA Basketball: Ranking of 20 best college teams from last 20 years
By Joey Loose
14. 2005 Illinois
The Big Ten hasn’t won a national championship since Michigan State in 2000, but this Illinois team was certainly the best shot this conference has had. The best season in Illinois history produced a 29-0 start and Big Ten regular-season and conference tournament titles. All of their wins, aside from a thrilling comeback against Arizona in the Elite Eight, came by at least 5 points, and this season remains the highest standard in Illini history despite how it ended.
The starting five on this Illini team were all legends, led by future NBA star Deron Williams (12.5 ppg, 6.8 apg) and talented guards Luther Head (15.9 ppg, 3.8 apg) and Dee Brown (13.3 ppg, 4.5 apg). The two forwards were just as impactful, as Roger Powell Jr. (12.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and James Augustine (10.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg) certainly saw their share of action on a team that just massacred people on a regular basis.
It took a last-second shot by Ohio State to hand the Illini their first loss. After surviving Arizona and beating Louisville in the Final Four, they met the match against North Carolina, watching the Tar Heels cut down the nets after a thrilling effort in the title game. No Illinois team past or present can match this particular season, as coach Bruce Weber put a talented crop of stars in position to nearly rewrite the record books. Had they been able to cut down those nets, there’s no doubt that this rank would’ve been much higher.