The Champaign Room
A Fighting Illini community since 2012
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Ups and downs aside, this season has been a success for the Illini
After a few early non conference losses, the Illini got off to a hot start during the beginning of conference play. They won 11 of their first 12 conference games, and even won 12 games in a row from late December through early February. The rest of February went much differently unfortunately. Finishing with a […]
Illinois’ most likely path to a Big Ten title
With a triple bye confirmed in the Big Ten Tournament, Illinois will play the winner of the Wisconsin/Washington game in its first matchup on Friday. Securing the triple bye is a major advantage in a tournament where surviving four games in four days can quickly wear teams down. Regardless, they’ll still have to go through […]
Three Illini earn All-Big Ten honors
Now that the college basketball regular season has ended, it’s officially awards season. Three Illini stars—Keaton Wagler, Kylan Boswell, and David Mirkovic—earned All-Big Ten honors for the 2025-26 season. Wagler, one of the premier freshmen in the nation, was named to the First-Team All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Freshman Team. On top of that, he […]
Built for this: How Illinois constructed this roster for this moment
The Illinois Fighting Illini men’s hoop squad just completed a 24-7 regular season. They finished fourth in a top-heavy Big Ten and earned a triple bye in the first 18-team Big Ten Tournament. The season featured all-world performances by true freshman Keaton Wagler, who etched his name in Illini lore. He became one of the […]
Our biggest concerns for Illinois entering tournament play
This week on ‘Oskee Talk’ Pleas Honeywood and Brandt Dolce join me to share vibes following the end of the regular season (4:58) as well as takeaways from Sunday’s win at Maryland (10:03) and our biggest concerns for the Orange & Blue heading into postseason action (14:29). We also discuss whether it’s too late for […]
Why Illinois can — and cannot — pull off Big Ten Tournament title
Illinois will receive some much-needed rest this week before playing in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday. The conference tournament will be held inside the United Center this season for the first time since 2023. The Illini lost to Penn State in the second round of that tournament and will look for […]
Illinois’ Keaton Wagler named Big Ten Freshman of the Year
The kid Kansas… is now the Big Ten’s best freshman. After a historic first season in Champaign, Keaton Wagler was honored Tuesday as the league’s Freshman of the Year. The lightly recruited four-star guard has had a dominant campaign for No. 9 Illinois, highlighted by his 46-point outburst in an upset win over Purdue in […]
TCR Bracketology 11.0: What’s at stake during Champ Week
It’s finally here. When people talk about March Madness, they usually mean the NCAA Tournament. Personally, I love conference tournament time just as much. In the power conferences, you get to see hated rivals go at each other one day after another. Bubble teams making their last push. Low major tournaments tend to be filled […]
Illinois State WR taking official visit to Illinois
We don’t write a ton of football recruiting — or any sport recruiting — content at TCR. There’s just so much going on all the time, and it does take a lot of work. Kudos to those who do it. But when you get a cool story like this starting to form, it’s worth reporting. […]
How to Watch Illinois’ Big Ten Tournament Opener: Game Time, TV Channel, Online Streaming and Odds
How to Watch Illinois In Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals Game Time: ~1:30 p.m. Friday TV Channel: BTN Online Streaming: FoxSportsGO Odds: N/A (Will be updated when available) Quick Hits: Illinois Fighting Illini (24-7, 15-5 Big Ten) Head Coach: Brad Underwood (9th season) Last Game: Illinois 78, Maryland 72 Illinois will play: No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 12 Washington […]
Illinois’ opening odds to win 2026 Big Ten Tournament
And here we go. With the Big Ten’s 20-game regular season gauntlet behind us, it’s finally time for the conference tournament, which starts Tuesday in Chicago. Some teams have a chance to win six games in six days en route to the league’s auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament. Illinois, which clinched a triple-bye with the […]
The Champaign Room hands out All-Big Ten awards and honors
First Team All-Big Ten Cuscago Ty: Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan *Big Ten Player of the Year Keaton Wagler, Illinois Jeremy Fears, Michigan State Bruce Thornton, Ohio State Braden Smith, Purdue Robby Nardini: Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan * Big Ten Player of the Year Keaton Wagler, Illinois Jeremy Fears, Michigan State Braden Smith, Purdue Pryce Sandfort, Nebraska How […]
Illinois narrowly escapes inspired Maryland, clinches Big Ten tournament triple bye
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Process over results tends to be how Illinois sets its tone in the early stages of a season. But on the final day of the season, it certainly feels like Illinois will take the results despite a disjointed performance on Sunday afternoon, where the Illini narrowly escaped an inspired Terps program, […]
Bracketology projections for Illinois — and odds to win it all
This time next weekend, we’ll be getting the printers ready to get our hands on some physical brackets on Selection Sunday. But until then, all we have is Bracketology to keep us busy as Illinois preps for the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Fighting Illini have the seventh-best odds to […]
What’s at stake for Illinois in regular season’s final weekend
With one regular-season game remaining for each team, the Big Ten Tournament picture is almost set. While Saturday and Sunday’s games could still shuffle a few spots, the bracket will likely look something close to this mock-up I created when the tournament tips off Tuesday at the United Center. Most of the remaining movement will […]
Illinois falls to Iowa in Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals
INDIANAPOLIS — Illinois falls to Iowa in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. The Hawkeyes started early, and the Illini, as they’ve done often this season, started slow on Friday. The early jump propelled Iowa to beat Illinois 64-58. Despite the Illini finishing the game on a 15-0 run to end the game, the […]
Illinois basketball’s season provides reason for optimism and skepticism
Brad Underwood’s Fighting Illini are in a basketball purgatory of their own creation. At 23-7, the regular season has simultaneously been an unequivocal success and a head-scratching disappointment. Now, Illinois heads to College Park to close the regular season against the Terrapins. They sit with a likely triple bye in the expanded Big Ten Tournament. […]
What we learned from Illinois’ feel-good Senior Night win
After the Illini dismantled the Oregon Ducks 80-54 Tuesday on Senior Night at State Farm Center, emotions were high and Illini nation was celebrating. But after the euphoria, the question becomes: Is Illinois back? Just as their victory over Missouri on Dec. 22 sparked a 12-game winning streak for the Illini, a run that included […]
How Illinois can get back to being a Final Four threat
The past few weeks have been less than stellar for this Illini team. It was a rough month of February for the Illini after such a promising start to conference play. Just a few weeks ago, this team was sitting at the top of the Big Ten with an 11-1 conference record. That quickly changed […]
Illinois gets revenge on Spartans, advance to quarterfinals
INDIANAPOLIS — Illinois found a way to survive. In a game that felt messy early and much more tense late, the No. 10 seed Illini held off No. 7 seed Michigan State 71-69 Thursday in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Illinois leaned on a huge first half from Cearah […]
Illinois’ AJ Putty starring in freshman campaign
URBANA, Ill. — The Illini are officially set for their first Big Ten series of the season. After a lightning delay cancelled the game against EIU (and a non-conference matchup with Michigan State), Illinois is preparing for some (finally) good weather down in Southern California. The No. 20 USC Trojans have so far gone undefeated, […]
Illinois slated to face Michigan State in second round of Big Ten tourney
It wasn’t smooth all the way, but the Illini got the job done on Wednesday night against Wisconsin. The 82-70 win over the Badgers sets up an electric rematch with Michigan State on Thursday. The Spartans bested the Illini back in January, despite a late Illinois comeback; the Spartans went on to win 81-75. What […]
Illinois dominates Wisconsin in first round of Big Ten Tournament
Indianapolis IND. — Despite a surge in the third quarter, the Illini held off the Badgers to move on to the next round of the Big Ten Tournament. This was an all-around win for Illinois, with four players in double figures and two players who scored 20. Illinois has now beaten Wisconsin for a second […]
How to Watch Illinois at Maryland: Game Time, TV Channel, Online Streaming and Odds
How to Watch Illinois at Maryland Game Time: 2 p.m. Sunday TV Channel: Fox Online Streaming: FoxSportsGO Odds: N/A (Illinois 89.4% Chance To Win – ESPN Matchup Predictor) Quick Hits: Illinois Fighting Illini (23-7, 14-5 Big Ten) Head Coach: Brad Underwood (9th season) Last Game: Illinois 80, Oregon 54 Gameday Reading: Maryland Terrapins (11-18, 4-14 Big Ten as […]
Unpacking Stojakovic’s bounce-back performance for Illinois
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It was an emotional Tuesday night at State Farm Center as the Illini faithful bid farewell to their seniors, and it ended quite perfectly. No. 11 Illinois rediscovered its identity on both sides of the floor in its final home game of the season, taking down Oregon 80-54 in the first ever […]
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