Iowa State (Prev. 3, 12-1): The Cyclones are the team to beat in the Big 12 after a strong W over Baylor. Duke (Prev. 4, 12-2): The Blue Devils have won eight in a row, Cooper Flagg has been as good as advertised and the win at SMU put the Mustangs in their place in the ACC.

But even as Illinois (10-3, 2-1 Big Ten) was learning more about itself and pollsters were cool toward the Illini during their hit-or-miss run in proving-ground games, the data-based NCAA NET rankings were comparatively higher.