Brad Underwood Reveals Illinois Basketball’s New Hurdle

It has been 22 years since Illinois entered a college basketball season ranked in the top five of the AP poll. Said campaign culminated in a trip to the national championship game – which is the furthest the Illini program has ever trekked in the Big Dance.

Can Illinois, which many expect to find itself in the top five of this year’s preseason poll, replicate that success in 2026-27 – and then carry it one game further?

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Those questions – which are very realistic entering a campaign for the first time since 2020, when an Ayo Dosunmu- and Kofi Cockburn-led Illini squad ranked No. 8 in the preseason poll – are the exact sort of questions creating a sky-high level of buzz in Champaign. And that buzz is naturally putting pressure on this Illini squad – a hurdle they’ll have to leap.

Illinois’ Brad Underwood pinpoints keys to a Final Four run in 2026-27

Apr 4, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood reacts after a play against the UConn Huskies during the first half of a semifinal of the Final Four of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“Managing an expectation,” Brad Underwood said in response to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein asking about the biggest keys to another Illini Final Four run. “I think there’s going to be a lot of chatter early about this group. We’ve got to learn to handle that.”

As you can tell, the chatter has already started. And the Illini have no choice but to face the not-so-unwelcomed music. Of course, Underwood and Co. don’t want their club consuming the so-called “rat poison,” as Nick Saban would put it. Still, it’s unavoidable.

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Admittedly, there is a massive difference between being a team capable of a Final Four run vs. a team that “should” be playing in the season’s final weekend. The former scenario sounds like an expectation-free joyride. The latter is a pressure cooker on a stove with the flame turned up…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/brad-underwood-reveals-illinois-basketballs-002502423.html

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Publish date : 2026-09-01 00:25:00

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