Illinois men’s basketball is headed back to the Big Dance for the sixth straight season

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Illinois enters the tournament with a 24–8 overall record but has dropped five of its last nine games. Photo: Saga Communications

CHAMPAIGN, IL (Chambana Today) — The Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball earned a No. 3 seed in the South Region of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, as announced during Sunday’s selection show on CBS.

Illinois will open tournament play against No. 14 seed University of Pennsylvania Quakers men’s basketball on Thursday, March 19. The game is scheduled to tip off at 8:25 p.m. CT and will air on TNT. First- and second-round games for Illinois will be played in Greenville, with potential Sweet 16 and Elite Eight matchups set for Houston.

If the Illini advance, they will face the winner of the first-round matchup between No. 6 seed North Carolina Tar Heels men’s basketball and No. 11 seed VCU Rams men’s basketball.

Illinois enters the tournament with a 24–8 overall record but has dropped five of its last nine games. The Illini were eliminated from the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament on Friday after a loss to the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball.

Penn, meanwhile, is led by head coach Fran McCaffery, the former head coach at Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball. The Quakers bring an 18–11 record into the tournament and claimed the Ivy League Men’s Basketball Tournament championship with an overtime win over the Yale Bulldogs men’s basketball. Penn enters the NCAA Tournament riding a five-game winning streak.

The South Region is led by No. 1 seed Florida Gators men’s basketball, while Houston Cougars men’s basketball holds the No. 2 seed.

Under head coach Brad Underwood, Illinois has become a regular in the NCAA Tournament. The program’s recent tournament results include a Round of 32 appearance in 2025 as a six seed, an Elite Eight run in 2024 as a three seed, a first-round exit in 2023 as a nine seed, and Round of 32 appearances in both 2022 and 2021.

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