Illini crack Top 25
The unbeaten Illini, fresh off their most impressive win of the season, made it into the AP Top 25 as it was released today. Bruce Weber’s bunch made Paul Klee’s ballot, which The News-Gazette beat writer turned in late Sunday night:
TEAM LAST WEEK
1. Kentucky 1
2. Ohio State 4
3. Syracuse 3
4. North Carolina 2
5. Florida 6
6. Duke 5
7. Baylor 7
8. Missouri 8
9. Louisville 12
10. Connecticut 11
11. Marquette 17
12. Xavier 9
13. Kansas 14
14. Creighton 16
15. Wisconsin 10
16. Georgetown —
17. Alabama 15
18. Pittsburgh —
19. Memphis 21
20. Michigan 13
21. Vanderbilt 20
22. Mississippi State 24
23. Illinois —
24. Gonzaga 25
25. Harvard 22
Associated Press Top 25
1. Kentucky
2. Ohio State
3. Syracuse
4. North Carolina
5. Louisville
6. Baylor
7. Duke
8. Xavier
9. Connecticut
10. Missouri
11. Marquette
12. Florida
13. Kansas
14. Wisconsin
15. Pittsburgh
16. Alabama
17. Mississippi State
18. Georgetown
19. Creighton
20. Michigan
21. Memphis
22. Texas A&M
23. Gonzaga
24. Illinois
25. Harvard
Others Receiving Votes: UNLV (8-1) 188; Vanderbilt (5-3) 141; Michigan State (6-2) 135; San Diego State (8-2) 50; Virginia (7-1) 26; Saint Louis (7-1) 25; Stanford (8-1) 23; Purdue (7-2) 12; California (6-2) 11; Cleveland State (8-1) 9; Florida State (5-3) 7; Kansas State (5-0) 6; Arizona (6-2) 5; Indiana (8-0) 4; Oregon State (6-1) 2; Northern Iowa (7-1) 2; Murray State (9-0) 2; Santa Barbara (4-2) 1.
ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll
1. Kentucky
2. Ohio State
3. Syracuse
4. Louisville
5. Duke
6. North Carolina
7. Baylor
8. Xavier
9. Connecticut
10. Missouri
11. Marquette
12. Florida
13. Kansas
14. Pittsburgh
15. Alabama
16. Wisconsin
17. Creighton
18. Mississippi State
19. Michigan
20. Memphis
21. Georgetown
22. Illinois
22. Gonzaga
24. Harvard
25. Texas A&M
Others Receiving Votes: UNLV (8-1) 62; Vanderbilt (5-3) 61; California (6-2) 32; San Diego State (8-2) 30; Michigan State (6-2) 29; Indiana (8-0) 23; Saint Louis (7-1) 18; Murray State (9-0) 8; Northwestern (7-1) 8; Stanford (8-1) 7; Kansas State (5-0) 4; Purdue (7-2) 4; St. Mary's (5-1) 4; Virginia (7-1) 4; Cincinnati (5-2) 3; Cleveland State (8-1) 3; Washington (4-2) 3; Arizona (6-2) 2; Tulane (9-0) 2; George Mason (6-2) 1; Northern Iowa (7-1) 1.
I have to be honest and acknowledge that I have been critical, and not one of coach Weber's biggest supporters, but you have to give credit where credit is due. The following were positive observations from the game against Gonzaga:
- The team intensity and effort was at a high level
- Utilizing all 12 players was done in a timely and effective manner
- Team maintained composure even when Gonzaga fought back
- Strategy to contain Sacre was well thought out and implemented
There are always going to be areas that the team can continue to improve upon, while the season is still early, we seem to be headed in the right direction and need to support the team including Coach Weber. GO ILLINI!
I doubt many saw the very positive comments in the Spokane paper about how well coached are these Illini and of course, how well they played. I hope that they do not get carried away with this ranking -- and don't doubt but that Bruce did a good job keeping the 2004-5 team from getting fat heads -- and settle for nothing less than Sweet 16 come March. At that point, who knows what might happen.
Credit to everyone -- and also attention to some of the ball-handling errors that still hamper us.
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