Illinois has talent...not sure how much better than Minnesota Northwestern Penn State Rutgers and Nebraska but by next year, i don't anticipate the Illini being in the bottom 4 of the league. Underwood hasn't done a good job with the roster or coaching fundamentals but they have skilled players.
I think this spring and summer of recruiting for 2020 and the last 2019 pieces need to have players that can play at this level. I am not confident that Thiam, Kiss are good enough on either end and whomever earns their minutes this year and next year will get RU out of 14th...how much higher depends on health and how do programs like Nebraska, Penn State, Northwestern, Minnesota, Illinois replace their upperclassman. Most are recruiting solidly but the window for improvement for RU should be the rest of this season and next.