The Illini basketball program will always hold a special distinction when it comes to the Big Ten Tournament. From the event’s inception, in 1998, all the way until 2012, they either advanced to or automatically qualified into the quarterfinal round. No one else can say that.
In fact, there have only been six Big Ten Tournaments in which the Illini didn’t play in a quarterfinal (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2023 were the others).
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Overall, the Illini are tied for second all-time in wins, 34, behind only Michigan State, who have 35. They are also third all-time in winning percentage, behind just MSU and Ohio State.
They have four Big Ten Tournament titles (2003, 2005, 2021, 2024), good for second (tied with OSU), behind only Michigan St, who has five.
The Illini also have four runner-up finishes, bringing their total title game appearances to eight.
The John Groce Invitational
You know that #8 vs #9 Thursday morning second round game?
We call that the John Groce Invitational, as his era of Illini basketball saw the blue and orange relegated to that contest in four of his five seasons.
Who could forget the time that Michigan beat them by 20+ in this game…well, actually that happened twice.
The more memorable of the two was 2017, when the Wolverines routed them in their pajamas (ok, it was actually the warm up uniforms), when they were all on about three hours of sleep.
Their charter jet skidded off the runway, and this scary event threw everything into disarray. The Wolverines were pure ESPN 30 for 30 material, as they eventually went on to win that entire tournament.
Hats off to them.
The next year, 2018, marked the first time in modern Illini basketball history. Maybe the first time in program history, perhaps? that their season ended in February.
What a weird statistical anomaly. Having a conference tournament at Madison Square Garden is a Big East thing, not a Big Ten thing, and in order to make it work, the Big Ten had to move their conference tourney way up.
Yes, it was a very stupid decision on the league’s part.
Illini basketball coach Brad Underwood has restored the program now. It started to decline sharply in the late Bruce Weber years, but Groce plunged it into depths not seen since the mid 1970s.
Underwood has brought it back with:
an Elite Eight appearance and Big Ten Tournament title last season, a conference regular season title in 2022, a #1 seed and a a conference tournament title last season.
This Illini basketball team will open their 2025 league tournament tomorrow night, when they will meet the winner of the Iowa-Ohio State game, which transpires later today.
Come Selection Sunday, which is only four days away now, they’ll know their March Madness seeding, destination and opponent.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.