The Fighting Illini men’s basketball team has made it to yet another National Tournament. Illinois earned a fifth consecutive bid under head coach Brad Underwood and goes into the competition with the same hopes and dreams as any of the other 67 programs. Could this be the year that a national championship is finally won?

 The Illini received a number six seed berth this year and that might be good enough for the sports betting Illinois public to get behind the team. Illinois made it all the way to the Elite Eight last year before losing to eventual champion UConn. Anything can happen at the incredibly well-named March Madness and the Fighting Illini will be well supported all the way.

 As we eagerly await to see just how well Illinois does this year, we thought it would be the perfect time to take a look back on some successful seasons of the past for inspiration. We may not have won a national championship but we have come incredibly close on a number of occasions, proving that this program is one of the best in the nation.

1949

 Harry Combes took over as head coach in 1947 and implemented a new way of playing that made Illinois particularly dangerous forcing turnovers and scoring fast break points. After a six-year absence from the national tournament, Coombes led the Illini to a third-place game in 1949 and began one of the most successful eras in the program’s history.

 It was the first time since 1908 that Illinois had won 20 games in a season as it finished top of the Big Ten standings. With only eight teams making it through to the tournament in those days, the Illini beat Yale by four points before losing to eventual champion Kentucky in the “Final Four”. Oregon State was then beaten, as Illinois claimed third place.

1951

 There had been high hopes in 1950 but Illinois finished tied for third place in the Big Ten conference and missed out on the postseason tournament entirely. Everything came good the year after though, as the Illini won the conference again and made their way to a national tournament now expanded to 16 teams.

 Illinois comfortably beat Columbia and NC State at Madison Square Garden before facing Kentucky again in the “Final Four”. It was another agonizing loss, however, with the Wildcats winning by just two points. The third-place game proved to be a consolation once again, as Illinois beat Oklahoma A&M 61-46.

 1952

 Although a national championship remained tantalizingly out of reach, Harry Combes and his team had become one of the best in the country and the 1951-52 season cemented that position. Another 22-win season was achieved as the Illini claimed another Big Ten championship and made its way to the National Tournament once again.

 This was the year that the legendary John Kerr arrived in Illinois and his scoring helped the team ease past Dayton in the regional semifinals. Duquesne was then dispatched as the Illini made it to the Final Four for the third time in four years. It would end in disappointment though, with St. John’s the victor this time. Santa Clara was beaten in the third-place game, with Kerr landing 26 points.

1989

 After those heady days of the early 1950s, it all went very quiet on the postseason front as other programs came to the fore. Combes had left in 1967 but it wasn’t until the 1980s that Illinois made it back to the National Tournament. The Fighting Illini became a regular contender then, in fact, and went into the 1989 March Madness event as a number one seed.

 Arguably the most talented Illinois team of all time, the 1988-89 “Flyin’ Illini”, as they became known, cruised past McNeese State, Ball State, and Louisville before facing Syracuse in the Elite Eight. A close three-point win meant a Final Four date with Michigan. The Illini had beaten the Wolverines twice in conference play but, in a back-and-forth game, met an inspired Michigan team that sneaked into the championship game by just two points.

2005

 Illinois has been much more of a regular face at the National Tournament in recent years. But it was in 2005 that the team went as far as it has ever done, only missing out on a first-ever championship by five points after a second-half comeback. That team can claim to have provided arguably the most memorable March Madness moment of all time on the way to the final though.

 Fairleigh Dickinson, Nevada, and Milwaukee were all beaten fairly comprehensively in the opening rounds of the tournament, before Illinois faced Arizona at Chicago’s own Allstate Arena. With a raucous home crowd, it seemed like the result was almost guaranteed. But with four minutes left, the Illini trailed by 15. Step forward Deron Williams. He hit a three-pointer ten seconds later and the game turned on its head. Illinois got back to parity and then won in overtime to set up a Final Four game with Louisville.

 The Cardinals were easily beaten to give Illinois its first-ever championship game, with the team on a very understandable high. UNC was all that stood between Illinois and a title but top players got into foul trouble early and the team as a whole struggled offensively. In a battle between the number one ranked Fighting Illini and the number two Tar Heels, it was North Carolina who came through.

 Illinois has only made it as far as the Elite Eight in the 20 years since that game against UNC. But maybe this could be the year that the Fighting Illini finally cut down the nets.