Illinois Basketball Will Be Gunning for KenPom's Top Offense All Season

It took the Illini all of one game to dethrone Florida's offense, but it didn't come without an unexpected twist

Nov 2, 2026; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Andrej Stojakovic (2) signals possession during the second half against the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The 2026-27 college basketball season began Monday, and with its program-record 75-point thrashing of Fairleigh Dickinson, Illinois wasted no time backing up its No. 3 preseason ranking.

As far as March is concerned, the AP poll means a whole lot of nothing. Even the empirical data means only so much after one game in November. But make no mistake: It does matter. The NCAA Tournament selection committee is partial to KenPom, an analytical tool that ranked the Illini at No. 4 in the preseason. And after Monday's historic performance? You can see where this is going. ...

Illinois’ offense rises to No. 1 in KenPom, defense slips after win vs. FDU

Dec 13, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood before the first half against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

One of the surprises of the preseason KenPom rankings was that Illinois wasn't projected to have the top-rated offense of 2026-27. That honor belonged to Florida. But it took all of one game for the Illini to supplant the Gators in that category. Illinois now owns the top offense in the country, while Florida slipped in just below at No. 2.

Defensively, though, the Illini actually dropped two spots, from No. 21 to No. 23 – which doesn’t seem logical considering FDU shot 27.9 percent from the field and managed just 45 points in a game Illinois turned into a track meet.

Here is the interesting twist: Illinois’ offense, in terms of adjusted efficiency, actually fell from 125.6 to 124.6. (Florida’s dropped even more.) And the Illini’s defensive efficiency actually rose – but not as much as those of a few other teams.

So why did Illinois’ offensive efficiency move in the wrong direction after the Illini put up 120 points on cartoonish efficiency numbers? The likely culprit: their competition. FDU ranks No. 341 out of 365 teams in KenPom.

The Illini’s non-conference schedule is a gauntlet – including most of its mid-major opponents – but it isn’t without its cupcakes. Considering KenPom takes into account strength of schedule, Illinois’ offense likely needed a perfect performance against FDU to climb (although it could be argued that it couldn’t have been much better).

Look, there are worse problems to have. The Illini, despite some shuffling in KenPom's offensive and defensive rankings, remain at No. 4 overall. And until we see them play a fellow high-major foe – next Tuesday at Texas Tech qualifies – there won’t be much movement on the analytics chart.

As always, here in early November the goal is more about working out the kinks and growing as a team than statistical glory. It’s a long season, and Illinois will have all of it to work itself up to the top of the metrics.