Illinois Basketball Makes Impression in NCAA's Initial NET Rankings

The Illini land esteemed placement in the first NET rankings of the 2024-25 college basketball season

Nov 25, 2024; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Kylan Boswell (4) grabs loose ball from the court during the second half against the Little Rock Trojans at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images / Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

On Monday, the NCAA released its first set of rankings for the 2024-25 college basketball season as calculated by the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), and let's just say that our robot overlords think very highly of Illinois.

The AI-driven NET rankings model, which is now used as the primary evaluation tool by the NCAA Tournament selection committee, ranked the Illini (6-1) at No. 10 – in the highest slot among Big Ten clubs and just below No. 9 Kansas, which AP voters have ranked No. 1.

🚨 FIRST NET RANKINGS OF 2024-25 🚨

1. Tennessee
2. Auburn
3. Gonzaga
4. Duke
5. Pittsburgh
6. Florida
7. Marquette
8. Kentucky
9. Kansas
10. Illinois

The NET Rankings are used by the Selection Committee and updated daily 👉 https://t.co/WcAiGNRwth pic.twitter.com/TEwcJXn8cG

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) December 2, 2024

The Illini, who were unranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll last week, following the previous week's loss to Alabama, actually rank higher than the Tide in the NET rankings.

Weird? Sure. Fair? Probably not. Accurate? Only time will tell. NET rankings' machine-learning-created data is almost certainly more accurate than a cursory and incomplete eye test of the college basketball landscape by a bunch of overworked sportswriters, but it can't predict the future. Teams evolve. Things happen. We do not live in the Matrix.

What we know is that Illinois is currently considered a top-10 team by the tool that will be used by the folks who populate and seed the NCAA Tournament. With the Big Ten season only just tipping off for the Illini on Friday at Northwestern (8 p.m. CT, on Big Ten Network), there is a lot more hoops to play between now and March. But it's hard not to think about how a Dec. 14 date in Champaign with Tennessee might further shape the current rankings – and could potentially further enamor the Illini in the eyes of the machines.

Top 25 NET rankings (as of Monday, Dec. 2)

25. Saint Mary's
24. UC Irvine
23. Maryland
22. Baylor
21. Purdue
20. Houston
19. Iowa State
18. Clemson
17. Wisconsin
16. UCLA
15. Oregon
14. Utah State
13. Alabama
12. Ohio State
11. Cincinnati
10. Illinois
9. Kansas
8. Kentucky
7. Marquette
6. Florida
5. Pittsburgh
4. Duke
3. Gonzaga
2. Auburn
1. Tennessee

More From Illinois on Sports Illustrated:

Illinois Basketball Report Card: Grades vs. Arkansas (Game 7)

Instant Analysis: Illinois Basketball Outguns No. 19 Arkansas 90-77

Arkansas Coach John Calipari Reacts to Illinois Basketball's Win