Top 25 rankings: Illinois, Loyola flex on local teams

Illinois is not messing around, folks. And a certain team from Chicago’s North Side isn’t either.The Fighting Illini, thanks to a convincing win over ranked-foe Wisconsin, are up to No. 6 in the latest AP Top 25 college basketball rankings, released Monday.It gives the Big Ten three teams in the top 10, with Michigan (No. 3) and Ohio State (No. 4) being the other squads.Loyola (No. 22) makes its first Top 25 appearance since the 2017-18, the season where they made the Final Four.Bizarre note: NCAA basketball mainstays Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA and Kansas are all unranked together for the first time since Dec. 18, 1961.Here are the rest of this week’s rankings:

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