Illinois' Brad Underwood Pinpoints the Key to Success in Big Ten Play

Underwood has a simple yet seemingly spot-on formula for thriving in conference play

Dec 6, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood yells to his bench against the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

The Big Ten slate is not for the weak. The never-ending grind wears on even the toughest teams, stripping away much of a club’s mental and physical capacities during the months of January and February. But the end result, after a quick reset and heavy dosage of practice reps in early March before the NCAA Tournament, is often a product that couldn’t have been built without the experience garnered in league play.

Still, although the end goal is the same for every club – use the Big Ten schedule to prepare for the Big Dance – all teams in the league are still very much interested in vying for a conference title. 

Illinois' Brad Underwood on key to Big Ten play

Nov 19, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood yells to his team during the second half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

And per Illinois coach Brad Underwood, the recipe for success is quite simple and straightforward – although it certainly isn’t easy.

“One game at a time. One day at a time," said Underwood, one day before his Illini faced Penn State at The Palestra. "It’s never to overlook. It’s never to look ahead. It’s never to look backwards. It’s [to] handle your day-to-day assignment – the next game, the next play.”

Back into Big Ten play.

🆚 Penn State
⏰ 6 p.m. CT
📍Philadelphia, Pa.
📺 BTN pic.twitter.com/VyIntXUK3P

— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) January 3, 2026

Illinois, which currently sits among the other perennial powerhouses in the league, is perhaps the only one among them that semi-regularly drops a few contests it has no business losing. Think back to that 82-72 loss to a mediocre USC club in Champaign last year, a contest that came right before a much-anticipated two-game road trip that included stops at Indiana and Michigan State.

Although Underwood’s message sounds like typical coachspeak, it rings true. It’s incredibly difficult to light a fire under a team ahead of a matchup against a lesser opponent, but without that consistent preparation and unwavering expectation of success, a loss to one of those middling Big Ten teams is inevitable.

“You can’t ever get too up, you can’t ever get too down," Underwood said. "The next one hits you in the face and you’ve got to continue to be very, very good every night because the coaching’s terrific. League filled with great players and great teams. You got to have some toughness, some grit – we talked a lot about that – to go on the road and win. Then, [at] the end of the day, you got to have a little luck."

With a matchup against a dragging Penn State, it’s safe to say we’ll have our first opportunity to find out if Underwood and Co. are truly living his words and abiding by the one-day-at-a-time, one-game-at-a-time philosophy.