CHAMPAIGN -- I'm closing in on a decade of covering Illinois men's basketball.
This season, in fact, is my 10th.
Never has there been this much hype surrounding the program heading into a season. And never have I had as little feel for both this Illini team and the Big Ten at large.
That made filling out my ballot for this year's preseason Big Ten poll an exercise in frustration, second-guessing and doubt. It's a task I approach seriously. Just like I do when voting in the Associated Press Top 25. (That preseason ballot is due Friday with the first poll dropping Oct. 14).
Part of my job is knowing what's happening in the sport.
At Illinois. In the Big Ten. Nationally.
Yet I can say, with conviction, that going into this season I feel like I know less than ever.
The second most recent round of conference realignment dropped four new teams into the Big Ten. (Can't blame the Pac-2 for stirring things up again. Hurt people, hurt people).
But just the idea of ranking a team 18th in the Big Ten -- 18th! -- was insane. That will sting more in March when some team actually finishes in that spot. Can't be easy to sell that to a fan base.
Of course, ranking any team in the preseason in this age of college basketball is a challenge. One that I believe my fellow Big Ten beat writers also struggled with last month. A sneak preview of the preseason poll (without giving anything away, of course, before it drops late Wednesday morning) shows that my tenuous grasp on who might actually be good this season was shared league wide.
Because who really knows?
You can count on one hand -- perhaps with fingers to spare -- the number of Big Ten teams who bear a resemblance to their 2023-24 predecessors. Purdue might be Zach Edey-less, but the Boilermakers still return a half-dozen contributors from last season that ended with a trip to the national championship game. Michigan State is in a similar position. A couple others are at least more familiar than foreign.
Illinois is at the other end of the spectrum. Ty Rodgers and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn are the only returning players from last season's 29-9 team that reached the Elite Eight. From that 77-52 loss to eventual national champions Connecticut, the Illini return just two points. A pair of free throws from Gibbs-Lawhorn.
At least there's company in the rebuilding, reloading, restructuring (whatever you want to call it) camp.
Michigan, Washington and Southern Cal have new coaches and accompanying rosters that look nothing like they did in the 2023-24 season. Indiana went hard in the transfer portal even if Mike Woodson was only able to acquire a single outside shooting option in former Illini Luke Goode.
Maryland restocked its backcourt with transfers. Rutgers propped up its pair of five-star freshmen in Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper with veterans out of the portal. And Ohio State and UCLA supplemented a few returning rotation pieces during college basketball's version of free agency.
New-look teams populate the Big Ten. Including the one in Champaign.
Brad Underwood knew this was his offseason reality after going old in the 2023-24 season at Illinois, with Marcus Domask, Quincy Guerrier and Justin Harmon in a win-now move after Terrence Shannon Jr. and Coleman Hawkins withdrew from the 2023 NBA draft. The Illinois coach didn't have a choice when it came to hitting the reset button this spring and summer.
The result was a crop of 10 newcomers -- five freshmen, five transfers. A major influx of talent in five-star freshman Will Riley (a projected first-round pick), international freshman standout Kasparas Jakucionis (also a projected first-round pick) and the return of the prodigal son in Arizona transfer Kylan Boswell (the former Urbana Middle School star is also a projected first-round pick).
That doesn't even include the next potential Domask-like impact in Evansville transfer Ben Humrichous (booty ball lives!). Or a 7-footer in Tomislav Ivisic that can protect the rim and knock down threes (assuming he ever gets free of the NCAA's red tape). Plus powerhouse freshman Morez Johnson Jr., bouncy big man Carey Booth, versatile two-way wing Tre White and knockdown shooter Jake Davis. Plus, you know, the two guys that have actually suited up for Illinois in big moments.
The hype is understandable. Underwood has restored the Illini to prominence in the Big Ten and nationally. This team should -- stress, should -- maintain that place in the college basketball hierarchy.
As long as it can navigate what might be a bonkers Big Ten where the gap between No. 1 and No. 18 might not be all that wide.
No sweat, right?