We are counting down the days to the start of the college basketball season.
If you’re reading this on the day is was published, we have 47 days to the official start of College Basketball, and 36 days until we can see the team in action against K-State (presuming it’s televised).
The Full Non-Conference Schedule:
- October 23rd — at Kansas State (exhibition)
- October 29th — at UNLV (exhibition)
- November 3rd — vs Cleveland State
- November 6th — vs Saint Louis (in St. Louis)
- November 9th — vs SIU-Edwardsville
- November 15th — vs Marquette (in Chicago)
- November 18th — vs Alcorn State
- November 20th — vs Le Moyne
- November 24th — vs Evansville
- November 27th — vs Arkansas Pine Bluff
- December 1st — vs Pittsburgh (ACC-SEC Challenge)
- December 6th — vs Kansas (in Kansas City)
- December 12th — vs Nebraska (in Kansas City)
- December 18th — at Indiana
- December 20th — vs Illinois (in St. Louis)
- December 22nd — vs Chicago State
After the last few years of a poor lineup of Q4 games in the non-conference schedule, Missouri pulled a 180 and have schedule as well as anyone in the country. On top of playing Illinois and Kansas as previously scheduled, the Tigers are playing neutral court matchups against SLU, Marquette, Nebraska, and a road game at Indiana. There’s no question Dennis Gates stepped it up.
Let’s Meet: the Illinois Fighting Illini
Who doesn’t know Illinois these days? Our frenemies to the (north) east.
Founded in 1867 as Illinois Industrial University, the school has come a long way, in that it’s no longer called an Industrial University. I’m not sure why it’s Urbana-Champaign, and not just Champaign. Since Urbana is in Champaign, but I guess it makes the 35,000 people in Urbana feel better?
As one of the founding members of what is now the Big 10 conference, Illinois got into baseball before football, fielding their first collegiate baseball team in 1879. Football came around in 1890, and then the best sports, basketball became a thing in 1905, and they claim a national championship (pre-NCAA Tournament) from 1915.
Without being snarky, the Illini have a very long and proud basketball tradition. They have 18 conference championships, and have been to the Final Four 6 times in 36 tournament appearances. They’ve appeared in the top 10 of the final AP Poll 11 times, with three of those coming in the last six seasons. And from 1983 to 2007 the school only missed four tournaments total. Their 6 Final Fours without a National Championship is bested by only one other school, Houston.
In all I think it’s fair to consider Illinois one of the 15-20 best basketball programs in the country.
Head Coach | Brad Underwood | 10th Season 193-110
I’ve said a lot about Brad Underwood over the years. Underwood was hired in the same cycle as Cuonzo Martin was hired at Missouri. He’s a lifer. As a coach he started right after his playing career at Kansas State ended when he became a GA at Hardin-Simmons College in Texas. He’s been an assistant at Western Illinois, Kansas State, and South Carolina, the last two under Frank Martin. In between his start and the bench next to Martin, he also helmed the head coaching positions at Dodge City CC in Kansas, and Daytona Beach CC in (obviously) Florida.
But after moving from K-State to South Carolina with Martin, Underwood took the Stephen F Austin job, and it’s been as ascent to the top of the sport since.
Illinois made a prudent move with Underwood, something I even brought up in my first coaching search piece in 2017, Underwood was underpaid at Oklahoma State with a very low buyout number.
But it wasn’t an instant hit. In his first two seasons the Illini were just 26-39, and they were 11-27 in the Big 10. But since year 3, Illinois has yet to miss the NCAA Tournament, with four of those seasons as a protected seed. And then of course last seasons culmination of the trip to the Final Four. Brad has found a home in Chambana, and I think Illinois fans are more than happy with the results.
Series History | Illinois leads 36-20
What makes college sports so great are the historic rivalries. For college basketball it’s Duke-UNC, Michigan State-Michigan, Missouri-Kansas. Most of them are born from a long history of in conference games, while some of them are bred from historical hatred predating sports (like MU-KU). Very few of them come from Non-conference foes. Even with conference realignment, the history of the matchup began mostly in conference.
The Braggin’ Rights game with Illinois is something less organic, but it still worked. Prior to the Busch Braggin’ Rights series being spun up for the 1980 matchup, Mizzou and Illinois had met only periodically. There was a 4 game home and home series from 76-79 which the two teams split. Before that, just 7 meetings in between 1932 and 1955.
So when the game moved to St. Louis, this wasn’t a rivalry. It only became a rivalry thanks to the central meeting place for two alumni bases, and an annual matchup sponsored by the local beer company.
The rivalry was a good one up until Bill Self and Bruce Weber coincided with the downfall of Quin Snyder at Missouri. The Illini had an 8 game winning streak in the mid-late 80s, but there were a lot of close games. But still through the ‘99 matchup, games played in St. Louis were 11-8 Illinois. Then again if you overlook the Self-Weber+Snyder bad times (a 9 game win streak), the series is 9-8 Illinois.
So Illinois’ big lead in the series boils down to two streaks. Illinois has won the last three matchups, but I’m ok pretending last year didn’t happen, if you are.
What about the team now?
Point blank, Illinois should be one of the best teams in the country. They finished last year as the 5th best team in KenPom, and the 6th best in BartTorvik.com. And this year they bring back basically everyone from that team, with a few exceptions.
The biggest exception is lottery pick Keaton Wagler, the come from nowhere whiz kid who led the team in scoring and assists, and was the primary option when the offense broke down. Kylan Boswell, who was 4th in scoring, is also gone to graduation. And unlike many players is taking his 4 years and moving on. Boswell was the primary ball handler two years ago but moved off the ball more with Wagler running the offense. They also lost Ben Humrichous, a great shooter off the bench.
But the core of the rotation is all back, starting with Andrej Stojakovic, a California transfer who was second on the team in scoring. A slashing wing, Stojakovic is more at home inside the arc, and attacking off the bounce. So last season he was a bit of an odd fit with Wagler’s slower paced attack.
Zvonimir and Tomislav Ivisic are both back, as is David Mirkovic. The latter could have arguably been called the MVP of the team last season. He’s a versatile skilled forward who can drive offense through his spots on the floor. And of course, they’re bringing back Jake Davis, the do-the-little-things guy Underwood deploys all over the place.
To replace Wagler, Underwood brought in 5-star transfer Stefan Vaaks from Providence. An Estonian combo guard with good size, Vaaks is a plug and play offensive weapon. The draw back, he hasn’t always shown he cares about defending. With a backline of the Ivisic twins, and Mirkovic, maybe he can get away with it more, or more likely Underwood is going to have to light a fire. But if he guards, he might be the get of the portal.
There’s also 5-star freshman Quentin Coleman, a fast riser up the recruiting rankings, Coleman began last year is a low 4-star combo guard committed to Wake Forest. But things got interesting as his profile continued to rise during the high school season, which culminated in a decommitment from Wake, and a quick and heavy recruitment in the spring.
For depth, the Illini are going to be young, but talented. Backing up at point guard will be top 60 4-star Lucas Morillo. Underwood also lured the Wisconsin player of the year to defect to Illinois when Zavier Zens committed.
Preseason rankings from BartTorvik.com have the Illini slotted 7th overall. Offensively Illinois should be dynamite, they combine mediocre outside shooting with a whole lot of offensive rebounds and trips to the free throw line. The question is if the defense can kick it up a notch. Last year the offense finished 2nd in efficiency, and the defense 20th. That’s the difference between contending for a Final Four, and contending for a National Title.