It looks like the Bruce Weber era at Illinois is coming to an end

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FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2012 file photo, Illinois head coach Bruce Weber yells to his team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Northwestern in Evanston, Ill. In his five-plus months on the job as athletic director at Illinois, Mike Thomas has been busy. He's fired Ron Zook as football coach, hired a replacement, and is about to start trying to raise more than $100 million to renovate the basketball arena _ at the moment much of the fan base is ready to see basketball coach Bruce Weber fired. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

Updated: March 15, 2012 8:12AM

On Jan. 10, when Illinois shocked Ohio State to
improve to 4-1 in Big Ten play, that upset looked like it might be a springboard to the rousing season coach Bruce
Weber desperately needed.

Since then, though, the Illini have dropped six of seven games, falling into a four-way tie for seventh place in the Big Ten at 5-7. Now instead of contending for the conference championship, they face an uphill battle to reach the NCAA tournament.

Illinois’ bubble status, though, is overshadowed by the Big Question: Can Weber save his job? The answer appears to be: Only with a big-time finish.

The Illini could make things difficult for athletic director Mike Thomas by playing their way into the NCAA tournament and sticking around. More likely, though, is a scenario in which Weber, who’s in his ninth season at Illinois, has six regular-season games left as the Illini’s coach.

‘‘We need to compete at the highest level with our men’s basketball program,’’ Thomas said while fielding questions Saturday on a Champaign radio station. ‘‘We have to be in the higher ranks of the Big Ten Conference. A good part of Illinois’ history has been that kind of a program. We’re all about championships. That has to be a big part of how any decision is made. We want to do things the right way, but we want to win.’’

Thomas prefaced his remarks by saying nothing will be decided until he makes a postseason evaluation, but the signs point strongly toward Weber being replaced.

With Deron Williams and Dee Brown leading the way, Illinois captured Big Ten titles in Weber’s first two seasons. Since then, the Illini have added no banners and have finished higher than fourth in the conference only twice.

While Weber supporters can point to an admirable coach who has run a clean program and been a fine ambassador, he’s vulnerable because of his record the last five-plus seasons. Since Brown and James Augustine left, Illinois is 49-51 in Big Ten play, has won only one NCAA tournament game and has missed the tournament twice.

Plus, unlike previous athletic director Ron Guenther, who looked for reasons to keep coaches, Thomas showed with his firing of football coach Ron Zook that he’s going to measure coaches by results.

‘‘We want to be relevant, part of the discussion,’’ Thomas said. ‘‘It’s our hope that we’re always in the NCAA tournament, that it’s not whether we’re going but where we’re going to be seeded, that we’re a real threat to make some noise in the tournament. We’re going to try to achieve in the future.’’

Weber has three years left on his contract, but that’s not likely to be a stumbling block. The buyout would be $1.3 million a year for a total of $3.9 million. That comes on top of the
$2.6 million in buyout money Zook is receiving. But Thomas seems undeterred by $6.5 million in buyouts.

Thomas also hinted he wouldn’t be pressured into hiring a minority coach.

‘‘It’s always going to be my primary goal to hire the best coaches for all of our programs,’’ Thomas said when asked about the two Illinois trustees who refused to sign off on new football coach Tim Beckman’s contract because they wanted a minority coach.

In Thomas’ defense, a source said he made inquiries into three top minority candidates — Kevin Sumlin, Charlie Strong and James Franklin — but none showed interest. At least two other minority candidates also were interviewed.

Unless Weber can rally a disenchanted fan base with a miraculous finish this spring, the interest level in Illini basketball this fall probably would reach an alarming low.

That’s the key for Thomas — and for a program that has been underachieving for the last six seasons.