14. Illinois (7-2)
The last time we saw Illinois was last weekend in New York and things didn’t go according to plan for the Fighting Illini. An elite offense struggled for the first real time and got outdone by the Huskies after being beaten by Alabama a week later. Illinois couldn’t take advantage of those early opportunities to build what could’ve been a really strong November resume, but they’re certainly getting December off on the right foot.
Illinois headed down to Nashville for a ranked matchup with Tennessee and used a strong second half to leave town with a 75-62 victory. Tomislav Ivisic and Keaton Wagler had 16 points apiece, with the freshman Wagler in particular playing a large role in that semi-upset over the Volunteers. The Illini shot much better than in recent weeks against a strong defense in Tennessee.
Through their first nine games, Illinois had four significant challenges and split those outcomes two apiece. At the end of the day, Brad Underwood will take that result especially now that he has basically his entire roster eligible and healthy. When new talent like Wagler are standing out like this, it should make Illinois even more excited for what could happen in Big Ten play. Their first taste of that comes at Ohio State in just a few days before a home date with Nebraska over the weekend.