Big if true: Michigan-Illini set to show Big Ten is finally for real

This statement feels like climbing way out on a creaking limb, considering all the letdowns of the past.

But here goes: Big Ten men’s basketball is finally back.

Once the pride of the Midwest, now a coast-to-coast conference, the Big Ten has won three straight football national titles, something no one saw coming. Now the league is stepping up in hoops like it's the late 1970s.

This pick might look ridiculous in a few weeks, but the feeling here is the Big Ten is the nation's best, on a path to put two teams in the Final Four. And taking it a step further, Friday's Michigan at Illinois clash (7 p.m., Fox) is the league's best matchup of talented teams in more than a decade.

Granted, we've been burned before by believing in the Big Ten. No national titles since 2000, a combined 0-8 in championship games since then.

The last real “glory days” happened in 1999-2000, when the Big Ten put two teams in the Final Four two years in a row, with Michigan State winning it all in '00.

There's plenty of room to nitpick these claims. The Michigan-Illinois matchup certainly would look better if both teams hadn't lost last Saturday.

As it stands, it's No. 3 vs. No. 10 in the AP poll. However, in the well-respected KenPom rankings, it's No. 2 vs. No. 4. Plus this game features two of the top four in KenPom's player of the year rankings: Illini freshman Keaton Wagler is No. 3 and Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg No. 4.

Now, the game itself doesn't have any colossal importance. Michigan has already clinched a tie for the regular-season title but would like to wrap up a top seed for the NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines can add the goal of snapping their nine-game losing streak to Illinois, which dates back to 2019.

Likewise, every win helps the Illini secure at least a No. 2 seed in the tourney, but these teams could meet again in two weeks in the Big Ten's main event at the United Center.

After some brief research, we'll call this the biggest Big Ten late-season game since Indiana at Michigan on the last day of the 2013 season. That one featured Victor Oladipo against the Trey Burke-led crew that finished as national runner-up.

One could argue Michigan and Illinois played a bigger game in 2021, a No. 2 vs. No. 4 matchup. But that was one of the many false hope seasons for the Big Ten, as well as the no-fans pandemic season.

That year, the Big Ten was stronger on paper than its ever been, finishing the regular season with four teams ranked in the top eight of the AP poll. When it was time to prove it on the court, every Big Ten entry but Michigan was knocked out on the first weekend of the NCAA.

The ’21 Illini squad that was ranked No. 2, then lost to Loyola in Round 2 doesn't look impressive in retrospect. Ayo Dosunmu is the only player on the roster who made it to the NBA. Likewise with the 2024 team that reached the Elite Eight, it had one second-round NBA draft pick, Terrence Shannon Jr.

There's more top-end talent on the current Illini roster. Wagler, the nation's surprise freshman, is being mocked as a top 10 draft pick. Another freshman, 6-9 David Mirkovic, is getting better by the week. Outside-shooting 7-footer Tomislav Ivisic likely has an NBA future. Point guard Kylan Boswell is back from an injury.

Michigan's roster probably has at least four players who will eventually be first-round picks, depending on how some of the younger players develop. Both these teams can look big and slow at times against quality opponents, but it can also be a nightmare to try to score in the paint.

Times have changed. The players are paid, you never used to see college basketball televised nationally on a Friday night. Still, this should be a vintage Big Ten throwback game in Champaign.