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Illinois Basketball ranked as the No. 11 all-time college program by Associated Press

The Fighting Illini have appeared in 38.86% of national polls since 1949.

By Jim Vainisi
Wisconsin Badgers v Illinois Fighting Illini Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Illinois basketball has had a no good, terrible, very bad decade. The Fighting Illini are on their third head coach in the ongoing time frame, and even worse, their NIT bids (3) outnumber NCAA Tournament appearances (2).

But you know what? In spite of those depressing facts, Illinois remains one of the top basketball schools in the nation, largely due to an impressive history in Champaign. In fact, the Associated Press recently published their Top-100 programs of all-time, and the Fighting Illini were included along with some eye-opening company.

Illinois checked in at No. 11 overall after appearing in 38.86% of polls since January 1949. The only Big Ten team to be ranked higher is — you guessed it — Indiana (No. 6).

Illinois’ best full decade was the 1950’s, when the team appeared in a whopping 69.93% of polls. That may be difficult for younger fans to comprehend, so for comparison, the Orange and Blue had a rate of 65.79% throughout the 2000’s.

Here are the Top 25 teams, along with a closer look at programs from the Big Ten.

AP All-Time Top 25 Basketball Rankings

RANK PROGRAM CONFERENCE POINTS
RANK PROGRAM CONFERENCE POINTS
1 Kentucky SEC 1,111
2 North Carolina ACC 1,098
3 Duke ACC 1,032
4 UCLA Pac-12 957
5 Kansas Big 12 857
6 Indiana Big Ten 662
7 Louisville ACC 627
8 Arizona Pac-12 594
9 Syracuse ACC 581
10 Cincinnati AAC 500
11 Illinois Big Ten 479
12 Ohio State Big Ten 453
13 Michigan State Big Ten 434
14 Michigan Big Ten 423
15 Georgetown Big East 421
16 Connecticut AAC 402
17 Maryland Big Ten 400
18 Notre Dame ACC 382
19 Villanova Big East 372
20 Oklahoma Big 12 371
T-21 Marquette Big East 366
T-21 North Carolina State ACC 366
23 Iowa Big Ten 343
24 Purdue Big Ten 339
25 UNLV Mountain West 321

AP All-Time Top 100: Big Ten Rankings

BIG TEN RANK PROGRAM OVERALL RANK POINTS
BIG TEN RANK PROGRAM OVERALL RANK POINTS
1 Indiana 6 662
2 Illinois 11 479
3 Ohio State 12 453
4 Michigan State 13 434
5 Michigan 14 423
6 Maryland 17 400
7 Iowa 23 343
8 Purdue 24 339
9 Wisconsin 37 250
10 Minnesota 43 226
T-11 Nebraska N/A N/A
T-11 Northwestern N/A N/A
T-11 Penn State N/A N/A
T-11 Rutgers N/A N/A

So, yeah, make sure to bookmark this link for future reference. It could come in handy for the next time delusional fans from places like Virginia (No. 32) and Oklahoma State (No. 34) start making false claims online.