The 2026-27 college basketball season is nearly upon us, and the Illinois Fighting Illini are entering the year as one of the premier teams in the sport.
Illinois was ranked the No. 3 team in the nation in the preseason AP Poll, trailing only No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Duke. The Fighting Illini received two out of 59 first-place votes, while the Gators got 47 and the Blue Devils got 10.
No. 4 UConn, No. 5 Arizona, No. 6 Michigan State, No. 7 Texas, No. 8 Tennessee, No. 9 Virginia and No. 10 Houston rounded out the top 10.
Illinois was one of five Big Ten teams to be ranked, joining the Spartans, No. 16 Michigan,No. 21 USC and No. 22 UCLA. Nebraska, Purdue, Ohio State,Iowa and Indiana also received votes.
The No. 3 ranking is the highest for the Fighting Illini since 2001, when now-Kansas head coach Bill Self led the program. Bruce Weber's 2004-05 team, which reached the National Championship game, was ranked No. 5 entering the year.
Illinois is coming off a Final Four appearance in last season's NCAA Tournament. Brad Underwood's squad went 28-9 before falling to eventual runner-up UConn in the National Semifinals.
The Fighting Illini return several of their top players from last year's roster, including sophomore forward David Mirkovic and senior guard Andrej Stojakovic. Underwood also nabbed Providence guard Stefan Vaaks out of the transfer portal and signed the No. 12 high school recruiting class in the nation. That included five-star guard Quentin Coleman, four-star guard Lucas Morillo, four-star forward Zavier Zens, three-star guard Lincoln Williams, three-star guard Ethan Brown and three-star forward Landon Davis.
Illinois is coming off a 105-96 exhibition win over Cincinnati on Oct. 17. Stojakovic led the Illini in scoring with 28 points on 8-of-15 shooting, while Vaaks scored 19 off the bench. Coleman had a strong debut for Illinois with 14 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Brown (15 points), Tomislav Ivisic (13) and Jake Davis (10) all finished in double figures as well.
Mirkovic did not play against the Bearcats after suffering a foot injury this offseason.
The Fighting Illini will face several other ranked teams this season. Illinois first plays No. 19 Texas Tech on Nov. 10, followed by No. 2 Duke on Nov. 17 and No. 4 UConn on Dec. 4. Two Illini opponents also received votes outside of the AP Top 25; Missouri (Dec. 20) received the 26th-most and North Carolina (Jan. 30) received the 30th-most votes.
Between nonconference and Big Ten play, Illinois has 15 games scheduled against teams that are currently ranked or receiving votes in the preseason AP Poll.