Big Ten champ Illinois up to No. 16 in AP poll

✔️ Big Ten regular season (co-)champs

__ Big Ten Tournament champs

__ NCAA Tournament champs

Clearly, there’s still a lot left on the table for this year’s Illinois Fighting Illini after capturing a share of the conference regular season title on a stunning Sunday. Ahead of the season’s final two tourneys for the Illini, they got a new spot in the AP poll on Monday.

After several weeks of falling throughout the teens and down to No. 20, Illinois checked in this week at No. 16. Co-champion Wisconsin dropped from No. 10 to No. 12 after losing to Nebraska on Sunday.

So what’s next?

The Illini will take on either Michigan or Indiana in the Big Ten quarterfinals on Friday in the first game of the day. That’s bright and early at 10:30 a.m. CT. Illinois would then play Saturday and Sunday as it looks to win its second conference tournament in a row.

And Sunday is, of course, Selection Sunday. Illinois, while not with too many bad losses on its resume (Maryland, maybe Marquette? Cincinnati!?), is still checking in as a 4-seed in ESPN’s latest Bracketology. That would include a first-round matchup with Toledo, and possible games with Houston, Kansas, Villanova and Kentucky (and 15-seed Longwood! Another longtable could be in the cards!).

Let’s have some fun.