3 Reasons Illinois Basketball Should Be the National Title Favorite in 2026-27

Since Brad Underwood took over in Champaign, he has built a handful of Illinois teams capable of winning a national title, but the Illini have never entered a season considered one of the frontrunners.

Welcome to the 2026-27 season. The disclaimer is always necessary: We're more than a month away from the season tip-off and half a year from the NCAA Tournament, so literally anything can happen. But as things stand, the Illini are among a small group of teams viewed as true national title contenders. Here are three reasons they should be the favorite:

3 reasons Illinois basketball should be the national title favorite

An elite frontcourt trio

Let’s go down the list: David Mirkovic is a likely preseason All-American. Tomislav Ivisic is an inside-out two-way threat who would probably be the go-to option on most high-major teams in the country. And Zvonimir Ivisic is the nation’s premier rim protector, a dangerous lob threat, a deep-ball shooter and, per the analytics, one of the most effective returning players across Division I hoops.

But it is the trio's versatility – especially that of Mirkovic – that may be most valuable to Illinois. It allows Brad Underwood and his staff to attack the key weaknesses of virtually any defense, and especially in an area (the frontcourt) where teams tend to be less equipped to handle multidimensionality. Any two-player combination of Mirkovic and the Ivisic twins is going to have an advantage against opposing frontcourts.

Transition ability

Last year, the Flyin' Illini were grounded. Illinois finished 2025-26 ranked No. 353 (out of 361) in fastbreak points, at 5.7 per game. The coaching staff bent the offensive attack to its personnel – namely Keaton Wagler – which wound up favoring a half-court-oriented system.

And for most of the campaign, Illinois had the No. 1 offense in the country, breaking the KenPom record for efficiency on multiple occasions (though Purdue did inch past the Illini in that category by season’s end). Imagine that: Illinois essentially punted on transition points – the easy buckets when a defense isn’t set. Yet the Illini still had a historically efficient offense.

Come 2026-27, it may be even better. The backcourt pairing of Stefan Vaaks and Quentin Coleman can both really go – and projected backup guard Ethan Brown has the tools to do just the same, per Underwood.

We know Big Z, whose combination of size, mobility and vertical pop makes him an ideal rim-running threat, can be effective in transition. Andrej Stojakovic was the Illini’s key tempo-pushing threat a season ago. And Mirkovic, despite his occasionally clunky attempts at leading the break a year ago, has the necessary skills to blossom in that area.

If Illinois strikes the perfect balance between taking the easy ones in transition and recognizing when to pull it back and attack in the halfcourt, its offense is going to (somehow) be better than a season ago.

Even more size than last season

Mar 28, 2026; Houston, TX, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Jake Davis (15) reacts in the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes during an Elite Eight game of the South Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Remember when Kylan Boswell (an All-Big Ten Defensive Team selection, mind you) was sidelined for a stretch of games last year? In the immediate aftermath of his injury, the knee-jerk reaction was that Illinois’ defense was going to suffer.

It didn’t.

The main reason was simple: Boswell, for all of his defensive ability, stands at just 6-foot-2. While he was out, the shortest members of Illinois’ rotation were Wagler and wing Jake Davis, both 6-foot-6.

The size and length the Illini rolled out across the board made the lives of guards miserable – aside from Wisconsin’s John Blackwell and Nick Boyd, of course – while wings and bigs never had a mismatch.

Even with Boswell, Illinois was the tallest team in the country last season. In 2026-27, the Illini are taller. However the rotation ultimately shakes out, the shortest player in it will stand 6-foot-4. And the upshot is that Illinois will be more athletic in the upcoming season. The logical assumption: the defense should also improve.

On that end, much will hinge on Coleman’s ability to hold his own – and, ideally, lock down – as an on-ball defender, while Vaaks, a Providence transfer, must make strides in that facet of the game following subpar defensive output in his freshman year.

The help-side defense is going to be elite, though. We saw the Illini operate at their ceiling on that end throughout the NCAA Tournament – thanks almost entirely to consistent communication – and that should be the expectation from the jump in 2026-27.

Oh, and let’s not forget about rebounding: Underwood-helmed clubs are always superb on the boards, and growing the biggest team in the country a little bigger is only going to enhance that glass-cleaning potency.

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