Illinois Basketball Checks In at No. 3 in Opening AP Top-25 Poll

Coming off a Final Four run, Illinois Basketball will enter the 2026-27 season with some of the highest expectations in the country as the Illini look to once again compete for a shot at the national championship. On Monday, Brad Underwood’s Fighting Illini checked in at No. 3 in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll, marking the program’s highest preseason ranking in 24 years (2001-2002).

Notably, Illinois trails only (#1) Florida and (#2) Duke, placing them at the top of the Big Ten with just two weeks until tipoff. 

The Illini return 5 of their top 8 scorers from last season’s Final Four team, giving Underwood a strong veteran foundation led by senior wing Andrej Stojaković and twin bigs Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivišić. That experience was on display Saturday evening (10/17), when Illinois opened its exhibition schedule with a 105-96 victory over Cincinnati. Stojaković led the 6 Illini who ultimately finished in double figures with 24 points, while Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks added 19 and 5-star freshman guard Quentin Coleman contributed 14 points and 8 assists. 

All said, Illinois Basketball has two more opportunities to tighten up before the regular season tips off, with exhibition matchups against Baylor on Oct. 23 and UIC on Oct. 28 still ahead. After allowing 96 points to Cincinnati, the Illini will need to clean things up defensively while continuing to build chemistry between their returning core and several key newcomers. Illinois officially opens the season against Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 2 at State Farm Center in Champaign, giving Underwood’s squad two final tune-ups to address any lingering concerns before officially taking the court as the 3rd-ranked team in the country. 

Illinois basketball. David Mirkovic. (0). Andrej Stojakovic (2). Huddled up. Photo Credit: David Pollak. Armchair Illini.

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