CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 11: Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood claps after a play during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 11, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Illinois basketball team beat the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Thursday night.

I can’t express to you enough how big this win was for the Orange and Blue. This could have been a let-down game for the Illini. We could have just let Minnesota win this game considering they were outplaying us at times throughout the game. But we didn’t do that. This Illinois team fought tough and pulled out the win.

Illinois is now back in a tie for the Big Ten lead. They sit at 16-5 overall and 8-2 in the conference. Michigan State is the other program tied with the Illini, but the Spartans have the tie-breaker as of right now. We play each other in the coming weeks, so that game is looking bigger and bigger each day.

I have said it before in an article, but I will say it again. Do you remember the last time Illinois has had a seven-game conference winning streak? Well, there are a lot of Illini fans alive today who weren’t alive the last time it happened.

You have to go all the way back to 2004-2005 to find the last Illini squad to accomplish this goal. Does this rendition of the team compare to that team, though?

I can’t really compare that team to this team. That team was composed of some rare talent. There are a couple of players I would take from this Illinois team, though. I think Kofi Cockburn would be an upgrade over James Augustine at center. I would have Ayo Dosunmu, Trent Fraizer and Andres Feliz coming off the bench too. Overall, there is probably only one starter I would replace from that team.

Honestly, it wouldn’t be fair if I actually compared this team to that title team back in 2005. But if you aren’t excited about what you are watching, then you probably aren’t a real Illinois fan. This team is special and has shown that, especially of late. The future is so bright.