ROSEMONT, Ill. — Toughness, hard to guard and crashing the glass.
Of all the words floating around Big Ten Media Days, anytime the Illinois Fighting Illini came up, those were the commonalities.
Head coach Brad Underwood’s squad has been getting more than their fair share of national attention, with many outlets labeling them as one of the top teams in the country.
But having their competitors speak highly of them lends a different degree of credibility to the potential of the 2026-27 roster.
One of the people who gave them the most credit was Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg, who has been competing against Underwood and the Illini since 2019.
His biggest point of emphasis: how hard they fight for rebounds.
“With their rebounding, they’re so hard to prepare for, if you don’t bring your hard hat against a Brad Underwood team, you’re going to get embarrassed,” Hoiberg said. “They got 40% of their misses back a year ago; that’s insane, that number.”
In 2025-26, Illinois and Nebraska split their season series, with each team picking up a hard-fought win on their opponent’s home floor.
Cornhuskers forward Pryce Sandfort echoed some of the same sentiments as his head coach, citing the Illini’s physicality as something that they had to prepare for as a team.
“They’re very, very physical, the offensive glass is a big scout piece for us every time we play them,” Sandfort said. “You know they’re going to hit you pretty hard, so boxing out is a big part of it, but also they have so much skill and talent across the board.”
Iowa head coach Ben McCollum, whose Hawkeyes were knocked off by the Illini in the Elite Eight back in March, was another who shared his thoughts on Illinois.
He pointed to the prowess of big men David Mirkovic and Tomislav Ivisic as a big reason why the Illini can become a headache to deal with defensively.
“It makes the guard’s job really easy because you have to focus your attention on the guy that’s setting the screen, and they’ve got a lot of problems there with Ivisic and Mirkovic,” McCollum said. “I think that’s what people miss on them; they do see their guards, and they’re really good, but their bigs are what make them go.”
Like McCollum alluded to, having skilled big men who can help you stretch the floor on offense can be a huge difference-maker.
The Illini are one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country, and Ivisic and Mirkovic are a big part of that.
From behind the arc last year, Mirkovic shot 37.5%, and Ivisic shot 31.3%, with both of them averaging over four attempts per game.
Just a few days ago, Mirkovic was named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team, an honor that indicates he might be in line for a big jump in production as a sophomore.
Iowa forward Cooper Koch was given the task of guarding Mirkovic in spurts, both in the Elite Eight and during the regular season, something that can pose challenges.
“He’s a great player, he knows how to use his body really well, and he’s hard to keep off the glass,” Koch said.
In terms of getting a lot of national attention, another Big Ten team that’s right alongside Illinois is the Michigan State Spartans.
They’re bringing back point guard Jeremy Fears, the Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year, along with talented forward Coen Carr and other impact players.
When asked about what jumps out about the Illini, Carr said he thinks that they’re pretty similar to his own team, and made it seem like he’s looking forward to their matchup in early February.
“They kind of play like us in a few aspects… we know it’s going to be a tough game and a hard-fought game, to me it’s always fun to play them because we know it’s going to be hard,” Carr said.
The Spartans are led by one of the winningest head coaches in college basketball history in Tom Izzo, someone who had a lot of respect to share for Illinois.
He pointed to the fact that the Illini are just scratching the surface with last season’s Final Four appearance, something that hits harder coming from a guy who’s won a national championship.
“Once you go to a Final Four, the Illini fans now expect everything, and that’s okay because I think the coaches and players do too,” Izzo said. “I think Illinois proved last year that they’ve gotten this program getting to another level, getting to the Final Four is one and winning a national championship will be the next one.”
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p class=”wp-block-paragraph”>Even with all the preseason expectations and the buzz surrounding the Illini, things haven’t wavered for Underwood himself.
Just like always, he hopes his team is known for things like playing the game the right way, being disciplined and how hard they play.
In other words, being “Everyday Guys.”
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