The Champaign Room
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Illinois opens as massive favorite over McCaffery, No. 14 Penn
Illinois will be reunited with an old friend this week in South Carolina — but the oddsmakers don’t predict an upset. The Illini earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a date with former Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery and his Ivy League champs, No. 14 Penn. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Illinois […]
Join The Champaign Room’s 2026 Bracket Challenge
It’s that time of the year again, those few days where you pick the winners of 63 games and think you’re going to have the perfect bracket. Well, prove it to us. Join our ESPN.com Tournament Challenge group and compete against other Illinois fans. Our group is called The Champaign Room 2026. You can find the group […]
Illinois earns No. 3 seed in 2026 NCAA Tournament
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois will limp into March Madness following a disastrous overtime loss to Wisconsin in the quarterfinal of the Big Ten tournament, and its quest for a tournament run will begin as a No. 3 seed against Fran McCaffery and No. 14 Penn on Thursday in Greenville, SC. Florida is the No. 1 […]
TCR Final Bracketology: Illinois Falls Off the Two Line
Selection Sunday is finally here. It is time to pick who I think should be in the field, and then an hour later complain about why the committee did not agree with me. Disclaimer: this is not my attempt to predict what the committee will do. This is purely my opinion of who deserves to […]
March Madness 2026: Start time, TV schedule and streaming for Selection Sunday
It’s that time of year again — Selection Sunday! Despite Illinois’ less-than-stellar final month of regular season, the Fighting Illini will hear their name called Sunday night during the Selection Show. Here’s what you need to know about the show: Even though the Illini lost five times over the season’s final five weeks — with […]
Illinois’ new #1 priority entering March Madness
On this episode of ‘Oskee Talk’ I share my favorite story from the Big Ten Tournament (5:00), recap the Fighting Illini’s stunning loss to Wisconsin (12:51), discuss the post-game remarks from players & Brad Underwood (24:55), and analyze the team’s seeming lack of a killer instinct (36:27). Finally, I also briefly preview Selection Sunday and […]
Former Illinois coach John Groce going dancing again
John Groce is going dancing once again. Groce’s Akron Zips claimed their third straight MAC Tournament title on Saturday night in thrilling fashion. For the fourth time in five years, the former Illinois head coach is heading to the NCAA Tournament. While his Zips haven’t yet won a game in the Big Dance, it says […]
Illinois collapses in Chicago as late-game demons return in overtime loss to Wisconsin
CHICAGO – A chance to taste sweet revenge. An opportunity to build real momentum before March Madness and silence the late-game narratives. A 15-point lead with 11:34 left on the clock. All gone in what felt like the blink of an eye. In the first win-or-go-home game of the season, the Illini walked home with […]
Illini emphatically demonstrate who and where they are against Badgers
CHICAGO – On a macro level, tournament basketball is a prize fight. Each game is called a round. And each contest leaves one team standing while the other goes home empty-handed. Few fights are draws. It’s a binary conclusion. It’s the beauty of the art and science of sport. When Illinois plays Wisconsin, the fights tend […]
Underwood points to free throw disparity in Big Ten tourney loss
CHICAGO — Say what you want about the officiating in Friday afternoon’s quarterfinal battle between No. 5 Wisconsin and No. 4 Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament. But I think we can all agree it was a little much, as the Badgers pulled out the 91-88 win in overtime. Illinois head coach Brad Underwood put […]
‘Lack of focus’ ends Illinois’ Big Ten Tournament run early
CHICAGO — Does Brad Underwood think Illinois get complacent? After No. 4 Illinois’ 91-88 loss to No. 5 Wisconsin on Friday afternoon at the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago, the Illini’s head coach nodded in the United Center press conference room. “I’m not worried about the offense, I’m worried about the other end,” Underwood said. […]
Illinois blows 15-point second half lead to Wisconsin, one-and-done in Big Ten Tournament
CHICAGO – A thunderous ‘Let’s go Badgers’ chant erupted as a slew of orange filed out of the United Center with less than a minute to go in overtime. The surest sign disaster had struck for Illinois as they fell to Wisconsin, 91-88. Blowing leads became a theme in Illinois’ season since February. That trait […]
Illinois halts skid, blows out Western Illinois
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It’s been a roller coaster ride for Illinois this season. After getting swept by USC over the weekend, Illinois was able to bounce back Tuesday with a landslide 21-8 win over Western Illinois at Illinois Field. Starting in the bottom of the first, the Fighting Illini were behind by one run until […]
Illinois wrestling finishes sixth at Big Ten Championships
Illinois Fighting Illini Wrestling finished sixth at the Big Ten Championships this past weekend, headlined by Kannon Webster’s third-place showing at 157lb. Eight Fighting Illini qualified for next week’s NCAA Championships, but the biggest news around the Illini program was the unfortunate end of reigning national champ Lucas Byrd’s 29-match winning streak. The defeat came […]
‘Super excited’: Illinois hosts Pro Day ahead of NFL Draft
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The practice field and weight room at Henry Dale and Betty Smith Football Performance Center came alive Thursday afternoon, filled to the brim with football players looking to prove themselves, as their loved ones and NFL scouts watched on. A grand total of 20 Illinois football players chose to come out and […]
‘Time to go have fun’: Illini look to get loose in Chicago
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The marathon of the Big Ten regular season is over. For No. 9 Illinois, the reward is a clean slate and a chance to carry momentum into March. Following a gutsy road win over Maryland, head coach Brad Underwood is urging his team to embrace the abruptness of the postseason. The Illini […]
Bench play can be Illinois’ X-factor in postseason
The current odds show Brad Underwood’s hardcourt warriors as a +450 (18%) chance to win the B1G men’s basketball tournament. Michigan is the favorite at -125 to win. (Michigan State is at +625, and Purdue is at +725) The Illini is a +1,100 to +1,800 (5%-9%) to take home the NCAA title. The reasons are […]
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 […]
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