Illinois' Dominance During Win Streak Reflected in Bart Torvik Data

Nebraska, which knocked off Illinois in Champaign earlier this year, is 16-0 and 6-0 in Big Ten play. Purdue has won eight straight, is 16-1 overall and the only other college hoops club that still holds an unblemished Big Ten record. Yet it appears as though Illinois, which boasts a 14-3 record that pales in comparison to those of the Cornhuskers and Boilermakers, is the hottest team in the league – and the entire country, for that matter.

Why Bart Torvik believes Illinois is college basketball's current best

Nov 14, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood greets the crowd before the tip of the game with the Colgate Raiders at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Need proof? Just take a look at the highly respected Bart Torvik metric. Since the Illini went to St. Louis and beat the brakes off Missouri – which, mind you, is tied for first place in the SEC at 3-1 – there hasn’t been a better team in the country. As first noted by Carson Gourdie of FOX Illinois and WICS on his X social media account, the Illini rank No. 1 in the country over their past six games.

#Illini Bart Torvik rating since the Missouri victory

Ranked No. 1 overall. 5th best offense. 4th best defense. They've played good basketball since the Nebraska loss, which is getting more forgivable by the second.

It was also a wake up call to Illinois' defense. Practice… pic.twitter.com/tBc6daDpxk
— Carson Gourdie (@GourdieReport) January 15, 2026

Only two of those contests (at Penn State and at Iowa) were decided by even a single-digit scoring margin, and only one Illinois opponent led for more than two percent of the game (Northwestern was in control for 11 percent of Wednesday's game).

And Illinois has been getting it done on both ends. The scoring efficiency and production has been humming at a high level (No. 5 offense in the country over that stretch), but it’s the team's defensive strides that have fueled the win streak.

After hovering in the mid-40s in defensive efficiency rating in the majority of metrics early in the season, Illinois' defense – now led by coordinator Camryn Crocker – has shifted into a new gear. Over the win streak, the Illini D has ranked as the fourth-best in the country.

Other notable statistics that leap out include Illinois’ offensive rebounding percentage of 42.0 (sixth over the six-game stretch), opponents’ free-throw rate (18.1, first), opponents' two-point percentage (41.6, seventh) and adjusted tempo (64.8, No. 322).

Illinois is living by all of head coach Brad Underwood’s keys to success – dominate the offensive glass, force tough twos, don’t foul – and something unexpected: playing slow.

The Illini aren't pushing the ball in transition, but they've been even more calculated in ensuring that opposing teams don't get those opportunities, either. And when your halfcourt offense is as productive as that of Illinois, it's a solid strategy.

Focus on setting up and creating offense across the timeline, and when you run into a team that can slow it down, crash the boards with everything you’ve got for second-chance opportunities. The Illini have embraced the philosophy and reaped the rewards.

And if the defense can continue to operate at this level – playing elite one-on-one defense, communicating, rotating, recovering, etc. – there’s no telling how far this Illini team can go.