Illinois on Saturday clinched the most wins in the Big Ten this season. But during this unprecedented year, that didn’t clinch a conference championship.
Following a thrilling 73-68 comeback win at No. 7 Ohio State, No. 4 Illinois closes the regular season 20-6 overall and 16-4 during conference play. But Michigan — which enters its regular-season finale at Michigan State on Sunday with a 14-2 Big Ten record — already was named the conference champion by the Big Ten because it has clinched the conference’s best winning percentage.
Yet, Michigan will play three fewer conference games because the Wolverines went on a two-week precautionary pause due to the spread of a COVID-19 variant in the Michigan athletics department. No. 2 Michigan played two fewer games than every other Big Ten team.
Michigan (19-2, 14-2) clearly is one of the best teams in the country, and the Wolverines clearly would’ve been favored in the three games they didn’t make up: at Northwestern, at Penn State and vs. Indiana — all bottom-five teams Michigan had beaten previously during the season. But Michigan surprisingly lost at Minnesota earlier in the season, and the Illini beat the Wolverines head-to-head 76-53 on Tuesday without its best player, National Player of the Year candidate Ayo Dosunmu. So the Illini think they have a case for a Big Ten banner too.
“I think when it’s all said and done, we will be co-champions,” Dosunmu said. “I mean, look at our résumé. We lost four games, I believe. We beat Michigan, who are the champs. They didn’t play three more games. Any day in the Big Ten, anyone can be beat. I think we proved that we’re one of the best teams in the country. With this win tonight, we believe we’re Big Ten champions.”
Illinois probably would have a better case for a share of the Big Ten title if Michigan loses at Michigan State (14-11, 8-11 Big Ten) on Sunday, but the Wolverines beat the Spartans at home by 19 on Thursday. But even with a loss, a Wolverines 14-3 record (.824) edges the Illini (.800) in win percentage despite hypothetically finishing two back in the win column. That in Illinois coach Brad Underwood’s mind is the most important number.
“I know we’ve won 16 games, and we’ve played all 20 of them,” Underwood said. “We all knew that this would be a unique situation with an unbalanced schedule in terms of not playing all the games. But I know this, nobody’s won more games than us — and we’ve played them all.”
Illinois likely won’t get a Big Ten regular-season championship banner. But winning 11 of 12 — including three straight top-25 road victories and back-to-back road victories at top-10 teams (No. 2 Michigan and No. 7 Ohio State) likely solidified the program’s first No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed in 16 years.
The Illini’s main goal this season is an NCAA Championship banner, and they look more of a threat for that title than at any point this season. Plus, the Illini still have another chance to claim a Big Ten title banner next week when it starts the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 2 overall seed.
“This is exactly what I came back for and more,” Dosunmu said. “I wanted to come back and cement my name with my teammates in history, Illinois basketball history and college basketball history. We have a lot more to accomplish, but we’re going to soak all this in.”
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