The Illinois men’s tennis team will find themselves in an unfamiliar position when they travel to Columbus to face Ohio State on Sunday. They will be underdogs.

The Illini have been the Big Ten favorites for the last ten years, a stretch that included 86 consecutive conference wins. But the Buckeyes upset the Illini twice last year to take the conference title and now hold the better record, the higher ranking and the home-court advantage.

“We’ve been thinking about this one for a while,” junior Brandon Davis said. “The tables have turned a little bit. Supposedly they’re the ones that are supposed to win, so we’ve got nothing to lose.”

The Buckeyes are enjoying one of their best seasons ever, boasting a 20-1 record, with their only loss coming to No. 1 Georgia in the National Indoor finals. In 11 matches at home, the Buckeyes have outscored their opponents 76-1.

But there is good news for the Illini, who will welcome back injured junior Ruben Gonzales after playing eight matches without him. Gonzales was playing at the No. 3 spot before he got hurt, and his injury forced four different Illini to move up and face tougher opponents. Now, with Gonzales back and senior GD Jones playing at the level he was before he was injured in the fall semester, the Illini lineup is arguably the strongest it has been all season.

“Getting Ruben back, that’s a big boost,” Davis said. “He’s one of our top players. That will inject some energy into the team.”

The Illini will have to rebound from their first loss to a Big Ten opponent other than Ohio State in more than ten years, a 5-2 defeat at the hands of Michigan last weekend. The Illini led that match 2-0 before losing the last five matches but recovered to beat Penn State on the road the next day.

“Michigan played a great match,” Dancer said. “We didn’t coach and prepare our team well enough to win that match. We’re really focused on that this week. So if we’re up in the match like we were against Michigan, we’ll close the door.”

The Illini will face a potential obstacle before they ever reach Columbus. They’ll travel to Bloomington to face Indiana on Saturday, just a day before the showdown with the Buckeyes. The Hoosiers, at 3-3 in the Big Ten, wouldn’t normally pose much of a threat to the Illini. But with Ohio State looming the next day, a lapse could prove costly.