The Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team has been a staple of March hoops since the start of the 2020s, riding a four-season berth streak into the 2024-25 season with seed lines of first, fourth, ninth, and third, respectively, from 2021-24.
In 2025, they are well on their way to another top seeding in the men’s March Madness bracket despite facing adversity they otherwise had not expected, and head coach Brad Underwood wasn’t shy when talking about the Fighting Illini’s résumé.
Brad Underwood Is Confident in Illinois Fighting Illini’s Standing
When asked about his team’s standing amid injuries, Underwood did not hold back, highlighting its performance against the top squads in the NET rankings, a valued system in determining NCAA Tournament fitness.
“We aren’t worried about any of that yet,” Underwood said. “I know we’ve got six Quad 1 wins, and I think just about every game we’ve got on the schedule is pretty close to that.”
While the Big Ten has not been as much of a gauntlet as initially expected entering the season (just one team in the top 10 of the NET rankings while the SEC and Big 12 have four apiece), Illinois has still been battle-tested. They’ve missed several games from key contributors in recent weeks during a time when they were needed most.
The Fighting Illini (18-6) have missed key games from Tomislav Ivišić (21 games played) and Kasparas Jakučionis (22 games played), who between them lead the team in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks per game. The team is reportedly fighting through a flu bug that just won’t quit, and it’s been since mid-January when they last had all their ducks in a row.
Despite this, the Fighting Illini still have a 6-7 Quad 1 record, going 7-5 overall since New Year’s Day, and with several chances left to prove themselves, there’s more time to up their seed line if they can get healthy.
Illinois still has UCLA and Michigan State at home, a trip to Wisconsin, and then home-team designations versus Duke (neutral site) and Iowa (in Champaign, Ill.) on its schedule, with the first four teams currently sitting inside the NET’s top 25.
College basketball records can be deceiving because of unbalanced schedules
However, Ken Pom is still really high on Illinois, ranking them 14th despite 8 losses
The next closest 8 loss team is Baylor at 26#Illini and Brad Underwood have had some tough losses. But if take… pic.twitter.com/sFEsKUpXG6
— Carson Gourdie (@GourdieReport) February 10, 2025
While its recent run could cost them a top-three seed (even when factoring in injuries and illnesses), a strong close could do the team wonders, especially if it can get over the .500 mark in terms of Quad 1 wins before the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament. For now, it seems like the Fighting Illini may have to settle into the Nos. 4-7 range unless things can turn around late.
However, it does not seem like Underwood is sweating it after seeing his team fight through inexperience, injury, and illness all season.
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