Voters for the AP Top 25 poll have spoken, and although the rankings remain the gold standard for most fans in determining the who’s who of college basketball in-season, their merit is dubious – and their ultimate significance unimportant.

So as heartening as it might have been for Illinois fans to see the Illini (9-3, 1-1 Big Ten) move up a few spots in the AP poll this week – to No. 22 – and as annoyed as others might have been to see roughly a half-dozen clubs ranked over the Illini despite less-convincing résumés, the point is moot.

And that’s because the NCAA’s NET rankings are where it’s at.

Viewed through that more scientific, data-influenced lens, the Illini are considered degrees of magnitude better – at least through the first two months and 12 games of the season. Updated through Monday’s games, the NET has Illinois ranked No. 9 in the country – one spot above No. 10 Oregon as the Illini prepare to take on the Ducks in Eugene in their toughest road game to date.

Illinois moved up four spots into the top 10 of the NET rankings, which are calculated daily, and is currently viewed by the formula as the strongest team in the Big Ten. The formula currently considers the Illini to be the strongest team in the conference.

And although the NET rankings finds higher quality at the top of other leagues, they recognize the Big Ten’s depth, with a total of seven teams in the top 25 as of Monday – also including No. 13 Maryland, No. 14 UCLA, No. 16 Michigan, No. 23 Ohio State and No. 25 Michigan State.

That bodes well for the Illini’s chances to continue to grow and build a profile through the conference season that can’t be ignored by the NCAA Tournament selection committee (which uses NET as its proprietary and primary tool).

It starts at Oregon (Thursday at 9 p.m. CT, on FS1) but, in theory, won’t end until March 16 – the day of the Big Ten Championship game and NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday.

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