Illinois (13-5, 5-3 Big Ten) rose two spots in the AP Top 25 released on Monday, checking in at No. 17 after splitting a pair of road games at Indiana and Michigan State. Illinois has now been ranked for five consecutive weeks. Illinois also rose three spots to No. 17 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

The Illini routed Indiana 94-69 on Tuesday, their largest road win against the Hoosiers in program history. With star guard Kasparas Jakucionis saddled with foul trouble, the Illini dropped a hear-breaker to Michigan state 80-78 on Sunday in East Lansing.

The Illini remained at No. 8 in the NET rankings, the tool used to seed teams for the NCAA tournament. Illinois holds a 4-4 record against Quad 1 opponents (Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75).

Analytics site Kenpom.com ranks Illinois No. 9, highest among Big Ten teams one spot ahead of No. 8 Purdue. Kenpom.com ranks Illinois No. 19 in offensive efficiency and No. 10 in defensive efficiency. The site projects Illinois to win its next 8 games and finish the season 22-9, 14-6 in the Big Ten.

Six Big Ten teams cracked the AP Top 25 this week, with Illinois joining Michigan State (8), Purdue (11), Oregon (15), Wisconsin (21), and Michigan (21).

Illinois is set for a two-game home swing this week, which begins on Thursday at 8 p.m. CT against Maryland on FS1. The Illini will then host Northwestern on Sunday, a rematch of the loss in Evanston back in early December.