No. 3 Illinois is enjoying a sustained run of excellence not seen since the school played in the 2005 national title game against North Carolina.
The Illini returned to the Final Four last spring for the first time since 2005, then retained five players from their eight-man rotation that fell short against UConn in the national semifinals to finish 28-9.
Illinois opened the 2026-27 season on Monday night by setting school records for victory margin (75 points) and 3-pointers (19) during a 120-45 rout of Fairleigh Dickinson.
The level of competition ramps up swiftly from there as three of Illinois’ next four foes competed in the NCAA Tournament. The stretch begins with a March Madness rematch with visiting Penn on Thursday night in Champaign, Ill.
The Quakers, led by former Iowa coach and Underwood friend Fran McCaffery, lost 105-70 to Illinois in first-round action last year in Greenville, S.C.
Four of the five starters for Illinois will be different than last March as Keaton Wagler was selected fifth in the NBA draft, Kylan Boswell graduated, David Mirkovic has been sidelined by injury and senior sharpshooter Jake Davis is out indefinitely after undergoing surgery to repair a separated shoulder.
Davis was hurt in the first half Monday after playing just six minutes.
“It’s a loss that’s tough for me to swallow,” Underwood told reporters Wednesday. “You know, it just puts a pit in my stomach because he’s a guy that works harder than anybody every day.”
Davis averaged 5.4 points, and 2.2 rebounds in 19.6 minutes per game for the Illini last season.
The Illini are also without Mirkovic, an Associated Press preseason All-American who averaged 13.3 points and 8.0 rebounds last year – which included a 29-point, 17-rebound outburst against Penn.
The Montenegro native suffered two setbacks this offseason — a left foot injury on July 31 that required surgery and an emergency appendectomy on Saturday.
“Obviously, Mirk is going to be out,” Underwood said Sunday. “… (He) was in an emergency room, having his appendix removed (Saturday) night. So, obviously, that means he won’t be in uniform.”
Former sixth man Andrej Stojakovic and Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks helped fill the void against FDU with 20 points apiece. Freshman Quentin Coleman and Ethan Brown served as the starting backcourt and approached triple-doubles in their college debuts. Coleman posted 13 points, 10 rebounds and six assists while Brown provided 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Neither committed a turnover.
McCaffery likes the composition of his team, which makes its season debut. He highlighted senior forward T.J. Power (16.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 2.4 apg last season), whose college career has included stops at Duke and Virginia. Illinois held him to six points in 30 minutes in March.
“The amazing thing is that (Power) just keeps working and keeps getting better,” McCaffery said. “He has aspirations to play for a long time. And I’m gonna do everything I can to help make sure that (playing in the NBA) happens. And I’m confident that it will.”
The Quakers posted an 18-12 record (9-5 Ivy League) before winning the conference tournament last season.