Illinois men's basketball coach Brad Underwood had a bad feeling ahead of an eventual loss to USC this past Saturday but wants to focus on newly minted No. 19 Illinois finishing 2-0 this week.

Brad Underwood was pleased with his team after a three-win week that boosted the Illini up nine spots in the AP poll. Illinois checked in at No. 13 in the latest rankings, but it wasn’t just the final score that left the Illini head coach feeling content.

Illinois coach Brad Underwood did not want to linger on Thursday night's historic Big Ten Conference victory at No. 9 Oregon. The No. 22 Fighting Illini's 109-77 decision in Eugene, Ore.,

(WCIA) – Brad Underwood was pleased with his team after ... Rather, the way Illinois won its two games out West, against Oregon and Washington, was seemingly more impressive to him.

Still, he has Michigan at No. 21, although behind fellow Big Ten teams like No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Oregon, No. 7 Penn State, No. 19 Indiana, and No. 20 Illinois. Of those teams, only Ohio State is on the schedule in 2025. Michigan is ahead of No. 23 Nebraska, who the maize and blue play in Lincoln in Week 4.

Scott Richey covers college basketball for The News-Gazette. His email is [email protected], and you can follow him on Twitter ( @srrichey ).

Men’s college basketball and Illini beat writer Scott Richey projects his top-four seeds for each region of the NCAA tournament

Illinois faces Michigan State. Our college basketball odds series has our Illinois Michigan State prediction, odds and pick for Sunday.

Indiana leads 96-92. Illinois won the lone meeting in the 2023-24 season with a 70-62 victory in Champaign, Ill. Indiana won the last meeting at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall 71-68 in 2023, but the Fighting Illini won the previous two games at Indiana.

This isn’t your grandpa’s Indiana basketball program.No. 19 Illinois smoked the Hoosiers in Bloomington, 94-69 in Kasparas Jakucionis’ first game back since inj

KenPom favors Illinois' 20th-ranked offensive efficiency, sparked by freshman lead guard Kasparas Jakucionis (16.7 points and 5.4 assists per game), excellent scoring and playmaking balance, and potent – if inconsistent – three-point shooting.

Since the calendar flipped from 2024 to 2025, No. 19 Illinois flipped a switch and pulled off two amazing feats on the road. On Jan. 2, the Illini set a