Two years ago, Illinois basketball posted one of its worst season records in program history. Now, for the first time in eight seasons, the Illini are headed to the Big Dance as a top seed.
Behind All-Big Ten first teamers Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn, the Illini have looked as special as the 1989 and 2005 teams, who advanced to the Final Four and National Championship, respectively.
This season, the Illini garnered the most regular-season conference wins — 16 — in program history, finishing the regular season at second in the Big Ten, while advancing to the conference tournament championship.
The last time Illinois made the NCAA tournament was in 2013 during John Groce’s first season as head coach. The Illini fell in the second round of the tournament to Miami and hasn’t made an appearance since.
While the Illini looked ready to make a touranament run last season with Dosunmu as a sophomore, COVID-19 forced March Madness to be canceled.
Not only are the Illini even better than they were last season, but they have also played some of their best basketball in recent weeks, defeating No. 23 Wisconsin, No. 2 Michigan, No. 9 Ohio State and No. 5 Iowa, all within the last 13 days.
At the time this article was written, the March Madness bracket was not out. But entering Selection Sunday, CBS Sports has Illinois as the No. 3 overall team, headlining the Midwest bracket and facing No. 16 Hartford in the first round.

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