With the start of college basketball season on the horizon, we’ll be taking a long look at the conference at large as well as Indiana’s roster over the next month. Today, our Big Ten team previews continue with a look at Illinois.
In terms of preseason projections, the Illini enter the 2019-2020 Big Ten campaign as perhaps the most polarizing team in the league. Bart Torvik’s T-Rank places them at 15th in the country to start the season with Athlon slotting them in at fifth in the conference. Some have wondered how this is warranted, given the team finished just 12-21 last year.