CHAMPAIGN – Brad Underwood has lived on both ends of the Big Ten Conference standings.

In his first two years of a rebuilding project at Illinois, Underwood’s teams finished closer to the bottom of the Big Ten than the top. In that second year, the Illini set a single-season school record for losses.

Then came a breakthrough toward the end of the third season, and last season’s run to the Big Ten Tournament title put the Illini back on the college basketball map.

Nonetheless, life as a Power 5 conference basketball coach is full of long nights, plenty of videotape and some restless hours when the rest of the world is sawing some Z’s. Yet as Underwood and the Illini make their way into the final three weeks of the regular season with the Illini standing alone in first place in the league race and climbing the top 25, there’s no exhale from Underwood and the Illini.

Every game counts in a tight race, as Illinois holds a slim one-half game lead over Purdue and Wisconsin, and Underwood found himself staring at the bedroom ceiling.

“I don’t sleep,’’ Underwood said after the 73-66 win over Northwestern Sunday. “I didn’t sleep in those first two years when we got our ass kicked, and I don’t sleep now. ‘’

Just like last season, when the Illini were on a mad run to close the regular season, Illinois found itself in the thick of a wild Big Ten race. Unlike a year ago, it appears the title will be decided on the court instead of a COVID-19 champion, such as last season when Michigan snuck out of town with the title thanks in part to its well-timed COVID shut down.

Five teams remain in the hunt, although Illinois has everyone in the rear-view mirror. So, Underwood coaches his team, goes home and tries to get some shut eye. But it’s just that time of the year, when he’s thinking about playing rotations, getting Kofi Cockburn some help from the officials, and making sure the Illini are prepared for every game.

No. 12 Illinois plays at Rutgers Wednesday before a trip to Michigan State Saturday.

The Illini are already done with Purdue and Wisconsin, two other teams in the chase. Besides Michigan State, the Illini also have a date with title contender Ohio State. One challenge is staying in the moment and taking care of business each day, but there’s the big picture that’s hard to ignore.

“To me, I can’t control what happens with 13 other teams,’’ Underwood said. “We know we’re in first. It’s all (the media) talks about. It’s all anybody talks about. I can’t keep guys from hearing it. We address it, but we don’t talk about it. That would be a death sentence to do that. It’s how can we try to play the best game we can against Rutgers.’’

Picking the best path to the title is a crap shoot, because the parity in the league makes it hard to find the gimmes.

When Illinois plays at Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights go for their fourth straight win over a top 25 team, and Illinois escaped with a one-point win in the State Farm Center in the first meeting with Michigan State. Illinois also heads to Michigan – where they might be talking about how the Illini were talking last year – and hosts Oho State in the only meeting between the two teams in the regular season.

Penn State and Iowa are also on the schedule.

“I think I’ve been through this before,’’ said Underwood. “We’re just literally taking it one game at a time. We have three weeks left. Next game at Rutgers. At the end of the year, we’ll tally them up and see where we’re at.’’

Meanwhile, Wisconsin only has one game against the top five – a home date with Purdue, but the Badgers play at Indiana Tuesday. Purdue’s challenge is road games against Michigan State and Wisconsin, and Ohio State still has a lot of work to do with eight games remaining.

Michigan State also has three games left against the top five.

Want to find the easiest route? Close your eyes and take a guess, but Wisconsin has to like its path at this point. Sure, there’s the home game with Purdue, but it’s the only date remaining against league contenders. Indiana and Rutgers are tough to beat on the road, yet it takes a couple tough road kills to win a championship.

Meanwhile, the Illini camp remained confident. Down the stretch, don’t be surprised to see more R.J. Melendez -- a freshman making his mark with athleticism, skill, and courage -- even if it forces experienced players to handle losing some minutes.

“Everybody rides with veterans early,’’ Underwood said. “We’ve done that.’’

Underwood will continue to lobby with the league office about the treatment endured by center Kofi Cockburn. He’s the biggest kid on the block, so Big Ten refs have allowed the little guys to get away with too much. For the most part, Cockburn handled it well, until the game vs. Northwestern when the wrestling tactics wore out Cockburn.

“It was as bad as I’ve seen Kofi flustered,’’ Underwood said. “Kofi never shows emotion. We all know he’s the most fouled player in America.

“One of the officials (vs. Northwestern) said, ‘They could call a foul every trip.’ How do you respond to that?’’

This is where it gets fun for everyone but maybe the guy in charge. Underwood doesn’t want to look at the path for the other four teams in the league race. Don’t let him fool you. He knows exactly how everybody finishes. But he’ll spend his time on the Illini rather than worrying about a five-team race to the finish.

Heading into these final three weeks, they’re all chasing the Illini.

Tuesday, February 15

Wisconsin at Indiana

Michigan State at Penn State

Minnesota at Ohio State

Wednesday, February 16

Illinois at Rutgers

Purdue at Northwestern

Thursday, February 17

Michigan at Iowa

Friday, February 18

Maryland at Nebraska

Saturday, February 19

Illinois at Michigan State

Indiana at Ohio State

Northwestern at Minnesota

Sunday, February 20

Michigan at Wisconsin

Rutgers at Purdue

Monday, February 21

Penn State at Maryland

Tuesday, February 22

Nebraska at Northwestern

Michigan State at Iowa

Wednesday, February 23

Rutgers at Michigan

Wisconsin at Minnesota

Thursday, February 24

Ohio State at Illinois

Maryland at Indiana

Friday, February 25

Iowa at Nebraska

Northwestern at Penn State

Saturday, February 26

Purdue at Michigan State

Wisconsin at Rutgers

Sunday, February 27

Illinois at Michigan

Indiana at Minnesota

Ohio State at Maryland

Monday, February 28

Northwestern at Iowa

Nebraska at Penn State

Tuesday, March 1

Purdue at Wisconsin

Wednesday, March 2

Rutgers at Indiana

Minnesota at Maryland

Thursday, March 3

Penn State at Illinois

Iowa at Michigan

Michigan State at Ohio State

Saturday, March 5

Indiana at Purdue

Sunday, March 6

Nebraska at Wisconsin

Iowa at Illinois

Maryland at Michigan State

Michigan at Ohio State

Minnesota at Northwestern

Penn State at Rutgers

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