CHAMPAIGN – There’s no hiding the facts.

Even Illini coach Brad Underwood didn’t want to attempt playing the just-another-game approach when Illinois hosts Maryland Friday in a showdown between the two teams sitting at the top of the Big Ten Conference standings before a sellout crowd. The winner gets sole possession of first place in the best league in the country.

“I want them to play for first,’’ Underwood said. “I think (Maryland coach Mark Turgeon) has his team ready to play for first.’’

So do Tom Izzo at Michigan State, Fran McCaffery at Iowa, Pat Chambers at Penn State and perhaps a few others in this jumbled race, said Underwood. With the top six teams separated by 1½ games, blowing a game might truly be a wasted opportunity at a championship, so it’s juggling the realization that players know what’s at stake while also trying to keep things as normal as possible in practice.

Execution is often between the ears more than anything else, so the Illini face the challenge of handling Maryland while also trying to handle their own emotions. Everyone understands what’s on the line.

“The competitiveness in us knows what’s at stake,’’ said Illini guard Ayo Dosunmu. “I’d be lying to you if I say it’s a regular game. At the same time, we don’t want to get too high or too low. We don’t want to play with too many emotions and get off our gameplan, but we still come into the game knowing it’s a big game.’’

At this point with such little room for error in a tight, muddled race at the top, every game is a big game.

This Big Ten season has the feeling of a Battle Royale, one of those WWF concoctions where the last man standing is declared the champion, even if he has some staples pounded in his back and a few cuts administered from a razor stuck in a guy’s taped knuckles.

OK, maybe you weren’t a wrestling fan back in the day. Let’s compare this Big Ten race to a NASCAR 500-miler, where it’s always best to be at the front of the pack rather than the craziness with the bumping and grinding in the middle of the pack. Like a NASCAR 500-miler, this Big Ten race won’t be finished until the final turn, known in basketball as the schedule’s final weekend.

The Big Ten season began in earnest at the turn of the year, when Ohio State and Michigan were still considered two of the best in the country. Remember when the Buckeyes were talked about as a candidate for No. 1? That seems like years ago.

Remember when Michigan State was tied for the lead? That was two games ago, both of them losses by Michigan State. The Spartans headed into February tied with Illinois for the Big Ten lead, before losing to Wisconsin Saturday and Penn State on Tuesday at home. The Spartans lurk in third, awaiting a second-place tie with the Illini-Maryland loser. And Michigan State’s 75-70 loss to Penn State was perhaps a signal that the Nittany Lions are making their own charge toward the point in a jumbled pack at the top.

Iowa clawed toward the top of the league with the victory over the Illini at Carver-Hawkeye Arena Sunday, but the Hawkeyes were 36-point losers at Purdue two days later. It’s been hard to stay at the top, or even near the top, so a win on Friday just keeps the pack in the rear-view mirror if only for a few more days until the next big game, which comes Tuesday for the Illini against Michigan State.

This two-game homestand is a chance for the Illini to create some breathing room.

“Practice today was no different than it was going into Wisconsin, Michigan or wherever,’’ Underwood said. “It’s what we do. The fans can get all excited about the battle for first. To be honest, we’ve not talked about it. We know where we’re at. They know where they’re at. It’s just the next game on the schedule. As you know, this conference is crazy. All we’re trying to do is go out there and play our best.’’

March Madness is still somewhere out there on the horizon. Too many battles remain in the Big Ten to worry about seeding or possible destinations. OK, so maybe this Big Ten season is doing a great job at preparing teams for one-and-done postseason play.

“I don’t know how many teams in this league were ranked at some time this year,’’ Underwood said. “They’re all really good. If you don’t perform, you’re going to lose. That’s something that will definitely help you as you move on and you get into postseason, knowing that you have to be sharpened. You had to perform every night. That’s one of the things you have to do in postseason, or you go home.’’

Selection Sunday seemed a remote possibility a month or two ago. The Illini were unable to string wins together against power conference teams. The bright spot in December was a one-point loss at Maryland, where the Illini blew a double-digit lead in the second half. Nonetheless, Illinois felt like it gained ground that day.

“All losses are lessons,’’ Dosunmu said. “It gave us a lesson on how to execute late in the game. It woke us up. We have to play to our potential to be the best we can be.’’

The loss stung, but Illinois felt it was on the right path.

“That loss opened up a lot of people’s eyes,’’ said Illini freshman center Kofi Cockburn. With that loss, we realized what we could do and what we could become.’’

These teams are totally different than what they were in early December, when Illinois was still looking for solid footing. Maryland is playing a different game these days, looking for the pick and pop while spreading the floor, Underwood said. In a last-man-standing kind of Big Ten race, Illinois and Maryland meet for a chance to be King of the Hill, if for only a couple nights before that next biggest game of the year.

“It just happens to be the two teams tied for the first,’’ Underwood said. “The winner gets sole possession. I would expect nothing less than two teams playing to the best of their abilities.’’

Sounds like fun, but it’s just another big game in a long string of them before the calendar tells us it’s officially March Madness.