Illinois Athletics is in rarified air with NCAA Tourney wins

· Yahoo Sports

GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 21: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini celebrates with his team during the second round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament held at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 21, 2026 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) | NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Shauna Green’s team will have a chance to get to the Sweet Sixteen on Monday night against No. 2 Vanderbilt. I don’t think many of us expect the Illini to pull off the upset, but they did win a NCAA Tournament game for the second consecutive season.

So did Brad Underwood’s team this weekend, when they won two in a row and punched their ticket to the second weekend for the second time in three years.

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Oh, and Bret Bielema’s football team has won bowl games in each of the last two seasons (en route to 19 total wins — a historic mark in itself).

Take all that into account, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is the only school in the country to win at least one men’s and women’s tournament game, as well as a bowl game each of the last two seasons.

From where Illinois sat during my time in college (2015-19), this is certainly the golden age, and it only appears to be getting brighter.

While football may take a step back this season with a lot of new faces, Underwood’s team has a real path to the Final Four this season, and Green is building something special with the women’s program.

Keep it up. As Josh Whitman once said: “We will win.”

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