Illinois basketball is officially on the NET board - but not quite where fans expected.
After a rocky two-week stretch that included a humbling loss to Alabama in Chicago, a tune-up win over Long Island, and a shaky showing against UT Rio Grande Valley, Brad Underwood’s squad hit the road for their first true away test of the season. The destination?
Madison Square Garden - which, for the night, felt more like “Storrs South.” And UConn made sure it lived up to the nickname.
The defending champs didn’t just win - they imposed their will, handing Illinois a 74-61 loss that exposed some early-season cracks. Sure, the officiating had its moments, but this one was more about what Illinois didn’t do. Poor execution, lapses in focus, and a lack of rhythm on both ends of the floor made it clear: this team still has work to do.
So when the first NET rankings of the 2025-26 season dropped on Monday, Illinois’ debut at No. 24 turned some heads - and not in the good way. Most projections had the Illini pegged higher, especially given their history of playing a tough schedule under Underwood. But the computers weren’t buying in just yet.
To understand why, let’s break down how the NET works. The NCAA’s NET (short for NCAA Evaluation Tool) is the go-to metric for the selection committee come March. It’s not just about wins and losses - it’s about who you play, where you play them, and how you perform.
Games are categorized into four quadrants based on opponent quality and location. Quad 1 - the gold standard - includes home games vs. top-30 teams, neutral-site games vs. top-50, and road games vs. top-75.
Illinois’ losses to Alabama and UConn? Both fall into that category.
Big Ten NET rankings pic.twitter.com/5NnStU95xB
— Fran Stan (@HawkeyeBBFan) December 1, 2025
Quad 2 includes solid but slightly less elite matchups (like Illinois’ win over Texas Tech), while Quads 3 and 4 are games you simply have to win if you’re a tournament-caliber team. So far, Illinois is 5-0 in those must-win games - which is good - but they’re 0-2 in Quad 1, and just 1-0 in Quad 2.
And that’s where things get interesting.
Despite playing two Quad 1 games - something the NET typically rewards - Illinois sits behind two Big Ten rivals: Iowa (No. 16) and Indiana (No. 11).
Neither the Hawkeyes nor the Hoosiers have played a single Quad 1 opponent yet. Both have just one Quad 2 win.
And yet, both are ranked well ahead of the Illini.
That’s a tough pill to swallow for a program that’s made a habit of testing itself early and often. Underwood’s scheduling philosophy has always leaned toward “iron sharpens iron,” and in most years, it pays off by March. But in the short term, it can lead to some early bumps in the rankings.
Still, there’s no need to panic in Champaign.
The Illini have plenty of runway ahead. Non-conference matchups with Tennessee and Missouri loom large, and the Big Ten schedule will offer no shortage of Quad 1 opportunities. If Illinois can clean up some of the issues that plagued them against UConn - namely ball movement, defensive rotations, and consistency in transition - they’ll have every chance to climb the rankings before Selection Sunday.
This isn’t the start Illinois fans envisioned, but it’s far from the end of the story. There’s still a long season ahead - and with the right adjustments, the Illini can rewrite the narrative in a hurry.