Illinois on Saturday won the most wins in the Big Ten this season. But during this unprecedented year, it has not won a conference championship.
After an exciting 73-68 comeback win at Ohio State No. 7, No. 4 Illinois closes the regular season with 20-6 overall and 16-4 during the conference game. But Michigan – which enters its regular season finale in Michigan on Sunday with a Big Ten record of 14-2 – has already been named the champion of the conference by the Big Ten because it achieved the best winning percentage of the conference.
Still, Michigan will play three games less at conferences because the Wolverines took a two-week pre-emptive break due to the spread of a COVID-19 variant in Michigan’s athletics department. Michigan’s No. 2 played two games less than any other team in the Big Ten.
Michigan (19-2, 14-2) is clearly one of the best teams in the country, and the Wolverines clearly would have been the favorites in the three games they did not play: in Northwestern, Penn State and vs. Indiana – all of the last five teams that Michigan previously defeated during the season. But Michigan surprisingly lost in Minnesota at the start of the season, and the Illini beat the Wolverines 76-53 on Tuesday without their best player, candidate for National Player of the Year. Ayo Dosunmu. So the Illini think they also have a case for a Big Ten flag.
“I think that when all is said and done, we will be co-champions,” said Dosunmu. “I mean, look at our resume. We lost four games, I believe. We beat Michigan, who is the champion. They did not play three more games. Any day in the Big Ten, anyone can be defeated. I think we have proved that we are one of the best teams in the country. With this victory tonight, we believe we are the champions of the Big Ten. “
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Illinois would probably have a better case for a part of the Big Ten title if Michigan lost to 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 record 14-3 (0.824) beats Illini (0.800) in winning percentage, despite hypothetically ending two back in the winning column. That, in Illinois coach Brad Underwood’s mind, is the most important number.
“I know we won 16 games and played all 20,” said Underwood. “We all knew that this would be a unique situation with an unbalanced schedule in terms of not playing every game. But I know that, nobody won more games than we did – and we played them all. “
Illinois is unlikely to receive a regular season Big Ten championship flag. But winning 11 of 12 – including three consecutive wins in the top 25 and consecutive wins in the top 10 teams (No. 2 in Michigan and No. 7 in the state of Ohio) probably solidified the first No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament in 16 years.
Illini’s main goal this season is an NCAA Championship flag, and they seem more of a threat to that title than at any time this season. In addition, the Illini have yet another chance to claim the Big Ten title flag next week, when the Big Ten Tournament starts as the runner-up overall.
“That’s exactly what I came back for and more,” said Dosunmu. “I wanted to go back and cement my name with my teammates in history, the history of Illinois basketball and the history of college basketball. We have much more to do, but we are going to absorb all of that. “