College Basketball 2025-2026

[Tryptamine]

This BYU vs Kansas game is fun. You have 2 of the likely top 3 draft picks in the 2026 draft going head to head in AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson. 

[SouthSideRyan]

On 1/29/2026 at 10:12 PM, Bobson Dugnutt said:

10 in a row for Illinois. Best record through 21 games in 20 years.

An Underwood special

[gflore34]

1 hour ago, SouthSideRyan said:

An Underwood special

It's probably the Cubs fan in me, waiting for the bottom to drop out, something else to go wrong, maybe, they're genuinely good and things won't blow up.  Don't like their chances today, we'll see what happens.

[bukie]

9 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

It's probably the Cubs fan in me, waiting for the bottom to drop out, something else to go wrong, maybe, they're genuinely good and things won't blow up.  Don't like their chances today, we'll see what happens.

The irony in saying this earnestly when the Cubs have made the playoffs 6 times the last 11 years, including a World Series championship and 2 other NLCS appearances.

[gflore34]

6 hours ago, bukie said:

The irony in saying this earnestly when the Cubs have made the playoffs 6 times the last 11 years, including a World Series championship and 2 other NLCS appearances.

PTSD from 1984, start of the 1985 season and of course, 2003.

Edited February 1 by gflore34

[SouthSideRyan]

Purdue is just a weird example to use.

 

Painter has a loss to a non tourney team in 20 out of his 21 seasons. And quite famously lost to a 13, 15, and 16 seed in consecutive tourneys

Edited February 1 by SouthSideRyan

[Tryptamine]

They were terrible from 3, but like usual dominated the boards. Another huge road win for Illinois. This is a top 5 team in the nation.

[17 Seconds]

my dad went to illinois but I don't really follow the team (or college sports). how good of an NBA prospect is wagler?

[Tryptamine]

2 minutes ago, 17 Seconds said:

my dad went to illinois but I don't really follow the team (or college sports). how good of an NBA prospect is wagler?

The lowest I've seen him projected in recent mock drafts is #7, He's pretty consistently between 5 and 7.

[gflore34]

As the Australians* say, well horsefeathers me dead, the Illini dominated the boards and beat Nebraska!  Hell yeah!!!

*Couldn't find the tennis thread, was one of the nuts that got up at 4:00 to watch the men's final live and was pleased Alcarez won.  There were some excellent rallies and shot making, think the grueling semifinal vs. Sinner caught up to DJokovic.  After the initial push in the first set, his legs were finished.

Edited February 1 by gflore34

[gflore34]

I wonder if the regression monster is coming for Nebraska.  They're a very good team, just don't think there top 10, final four type good.

[Irrelevant Dude]

1 hour ago, 17 Seconds said:

my dad went to illinois but I don't really follow the team (or college sports). how good of an NBA prospect is wagler?

Comparing him to every other lottery pick I have seen come through Illinois over the last 20+ years, his ceiling is higher than any of them.

[Brian707]

Not really following college hoops yet. I usually follow only from conference tourneys on. Illinois looks like maybe getting a #1 seed. Do they have a legit shot at a national title? Caught someone mentioning it on the score the other day 

[Tryptamine]

Just now, Brian707 said:

Not really following college hoops yet. I usually follow only from conference tourneys on. Illinois looks like maybe getting a #1 seed. Do they have a legit shot at a national title? Caught someone mentioning it on the score the other day 

They beat two top 5 teams in the country, on the road, over the last 8 days, missing one of their starters in Kylan Boswell who averages 14.3 PPG. 

[17 Seconds]

16 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Comparing him to every other lottery pick I have seen come through Illinois over the last 20+ years, his ceiling is higher than any of them.

better than deron?

[Tryptamine]

1 minute ago, 17 Seconds said:

better than deron?

He's kind of like Deron in that he's not overly fast, athletic, etc. but he's just incredibly smooth and calm. He also appears to be getting better at an incredibly rapid rate. Even compared to where he was 2 months ago, he is significantly better. 

[gflore34]

Think the Big Ten' strategy vs. Wagler now is hack and grab, Washington did it, Nebraska certainly took that approach today.  He shot 12 FT's today, should have been closer to 20, ended up with 28 pts, 5 helpers.

[bukie]

1 hour ago, 17 Seconds said:

better than deron?

Basically think Derons junior year as an 18yo freshman.

[bukie]

Nice to see Illinois was able to get another Underwood special today.

[Irrelevant Dude]

1 hour ago, 17 Seconds said:

better than deron?

Taller, better shooter, more athletic.  Deron Williams was much stronger and a better defender, but Wagler is only 18.  Deron was more of a finished product by the time he went to the NBA.  I still think Deron Williams was more of a sure bet to be a good NBA player, but Wagler has potential to be great.

[mul21]

16 hours ago, gflore34 said:

I wonder if the regression monster is coming for Nebraska.  They're a very good team, just don't think there top 10, final four type good.

I'm not sure it's regression so much as they just played 2 of the likely top 5 teams in the country and were missing 2 guys for one of them and Mast was maybe 75% yesterday.  I do think they're going to struggle against teams with size and athleticism (say, Florida) based on how they got dominated on the boards yesterday by Illinois.  Illinois also only shot 30% from deep yesterday vs 43& from Nebraska.  That game probably shouldn't have been as close as it was.  Humrichous in particular usually knocks down a couple and he was 0-5.

[Tryptamine]

2 hours ago, mul21 said:

I'm not sure it's regression so much as they just played 2 of the likely top 5 teams in the country and were missing 2 guys for one of them and Mast was maybe 75% yesterday.  I do think they're going to struggle against teams with size and athleticism (say, Florida) based on how they got dominated on the boards yesterday by Illinois.  Illinois also only shot 30% from deep yesterday vs 43& from Nebraska.  That game probably shouldn't have been as close as it was.  Humrichous in particular usually knocks down a couple and he was 0-5.

Yeah, the score didn't indicate how badly Nebraska was outplayed.

[gflore34]

2 hours ago, Tryptamine said:

Yeah, the score didn't indicate how badly Nebraska was outplayed.

This is pretty cool, exemplifying how the Illini surgically picked Nebraska apart - La Tulip on Illini-Nebraska 

Edited February 2 by gflore34

[gflore34]

That re-direct assist by Tomislav Ivisic was a kick ass play, you could hear the disgust in Fred Hoiberg' voice during the post game PC.  Loved his whining about Sandfort being held while they we're pounding the horsefeathers out of Wagler all day.

Edited February 3 by gflore34

[champaignchris]

On 2/1/2026 at 5:10 PM, 17 Seconds said:

my dad went to illinois but I don't really follow the team (or college sports). how good of an NBA prospect is wagler?

Wagler is an 18 year old (actually turned 19 today) 6’6” point guard who can shoot.
 

Just last year, Illinois had an 18 year old 6’5” point guard who ended up the 20th pick in the NBA Draft in Jakucionis. Even taking into account that Jakucionis was limited by an injured hand during the second half of the year, I think Wagler is a better player in almost every respect.