The men's basketball season doesn't start for Illinois until Evansville visits State Farm Center on Nov. 8 and the first Big Ten game isn't until Dec. 2 at Nebraska, but the Illini did not receive much love from a preseason poll of Big Ten beat writers.
Illinois is picked to finish 13th in the 14-team league, according to a poll conducted by media members, including The News-Gazette's Scott Richey, that was released on Wednesday, one day before the conference's annual media day event in Chicago on Thursday.
Illinois, coming off a 14-18 season that included a 4-14 mark in the Big Ten and a first-round Big Ten tournament loss during Brad Underwood's first season in charge of the Illini, is only projected to finish higher than Rutgers in the Big Ten, with Michigan State the favorite to win the conference.