Illinois’ struggling men’s basketball team will be hunting for an upset Sunday at No. 15 Michigan and having gone exactly two months since its last win against a ranked opponent.
The good news for the NCAA Tournament-bound Illini: They’ve won eight straight head-to-head against the Wolverines, the most lopsided the series has been since an 11-game Illini winning streak from 2000 to 2006.
But there’s something different about this Michigan team, and that something might be the strangest thing about any team in college basketball: If the Wolverines are in a close game — which they are, seemingly always — they’re almost incapable of losing.
They’re 14-3 — tied for first place with Michigan State — in the Big Ten, a dominant-looking record belied by the numbers on the scoreboard. The nine wins over their current 9-2 stretch have come by an amazingly puny total of 28 points. The two losses in that stretch were by a total of 40 points. That’s a minus-12 while going 9-2, in case you needed an assist with the math.
On Thursday in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines trailed lowly Rutgers 82-81 on their final possession, which ended with a 35-foot jumper by Nimari Burnett that splashed in at the buzzer. A refuse-to-lose nature could serve them extremely well in March.
NIMARI BURNETT AT THE BUZZER FOR THE WIN 🤯👀pic.twitter.com/bgY8VbG8aO
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) February 28, 2025
The wildest stat of all: Michigan is 11 games over .500 in conference play, but its scoring margin is plus-2.1, merely seventh-best among all teams. Illinois, a modest 10-8, is plus-4.6. Michigan State is plus-10.6, and third-place Wisconsin plus-10.1.
Doesn’t that mean the Spartans and the Badgers are better — perhaps clearly so — than the Wolverines? Well, no. What it means is the last thing any team wants to do is go down to the wire against the Maize and Blue. Illinois can’t just hang in there Sunday and hope for the best. That’s a sure ticket to another “L.”
THREE-DOT DASH
• MICHIGAN DIDN’T GIVE first-year coach Dusty May a contract extension last week just because of rampant rumors connecting him with his alma mater, Indiana, which will send Mike Woodson packing at season’s end. Nothing makes a coach look more in his element than a run of late-game excellence. If May isn’t the Big Ten’s coach of the year, something is seriously amiss. …
• LOYOLA IS HOT heading into Saturday’s game at Saint Louis. The Ramblers have won five straight to surge to 10-5 in the Atlantic 10, good for third place and one game in front of three teams including the Billikens. At Gentile Arena on Wednesday, the Ramblers got a total of four baskets from usually reliable scorers Des Watson and Sheldon Edwards Jr. and couldn’t keep center Miles Rubin on the floor because of foul trouble, yet they still pounded George Washington by 20. It was impressive to witness. …
• GAMBLING SCANDALS involving players unfolding right now at multiple Division I schools? Who could’ve seen that coming?Four New Orleans players are under investigation for connections to sports gambling. Fresno State has two players suspended, and a third who was removed from the team. Gee, one wonders what might have motivated any of them to brick a free throw or whiff on a block-out. It’s not like money is changing hands in the sport like never before. It’s not like relationships mean less than ever. It’s not like the gambling industry has its hooks in sports absolutely everywhere. …
• GAMES OF THE WEEKEND: No. 1 Auburn at No. 17 Kentucky (noon Saturday, Ch. 7), No. 6 Alabama at No. 5 Tennessee (3 p.m. Saturday, ESPN), No. 12 Texas A&M at No. 3 Florida (7:30 p.m. Saturday, SECN), No. 11 Wisconsin at No. 8 Michigan State (12:30 p.m. Sunday, Ch. 2), Illinois at No. 15 Michigan (2:45 p.m. Sunday, Ch. 2).
How many NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeds can one conference claim? The SEC’s first-place team, Auburn, has a bead on the top overall seed. The Alabama-Tennessee winner will be in position for a 1 seed. Florida likewise is on track for a 1. These matchups are monsters.
• MY LATEST AP TOP 25 BALLOT: 1. Auburn, 2. Houston, 3. Duke, 4. Florida, 5. Tennessee, 6. Alabama, 7. St. John’s, 8. Michigan State, 9. Texas Tech, 10. Iowa State, 11. Wisconsin, 12. Clemson, 13. Maryland, 14. Michigan, 15. Texas A&M, 16. Missouri, 17. Memphis, 18. BYU, 19. Arizona, 20. Kentucky, 21. Marquette, 22. Louisville, 23. Purdue, 24. Saint Mary’s, 25. New Mexico.