NCAA Tournament History for Illinois

+ indicates wins over a higher seeded team.
- indicates losses to a lower seeded team.

Champ

Runner Up

Final Four

Overall Record: 46-36, 0.561

Year	Conference	Region	Seed
Results
2025	Big Ten	Midwest	6
beat M 11 Xavier 86-73 lost to M 3 Kentucky 75-84
2024	Big Ten	East	3
beat E 14 Morehead St 85-69 beat E 11 Duquesne 89-63 +beat E 2 Iowa State 72-69 lost to E 1 UConn 52-77
2023	Big Ten	West	9
lost to W 8 Arkansas 63-73
2022	Big Ten	South	4
beat S 13 Chattanooga 54-53 -lost to S 5 Houston 53-68
2021	Big Ten	Midwest	1
beat M 16 Drexel 78-49 -lost to M 8 Loyola-Chicago 58-71
2013	Big Ten	East	7
beat E 10 Colorado 57-49 lost to E 2 Miami-Florida 59-63
2011	Big Ten		9
+beat SW 8 UNLV 73-62 lost to SW 1 Kansas 59-73
2009	Big Ten	South	5
-lost to S 12 Western Ky 72-76
2007	Big Ten	West	12
lost to W 5 Virginia Tech 52-54
2006	Big Ten	East	4
beat E 13 Air Force 78-69 -lost to E 5 Washington 64-67
2005	Big Ten	Midwest	1
beat M 16 Fairleigh Dickinson 67-55 beat M 9 Nevada 71-59 beat M 12 Milwaukee 77-63 beat M 3 Arizona 90-89, OT beat W 4 Louisville 72-57 lost to E 1 North Carolina 70-75
2004	Big Ten	South	5
beat S 12 Murray St 72-53 +beat S 4 Cincinnati 92-68 lost to S 1 Duke 62-72
2003	Big Ten	West	4
beat W 13 Western Ky 65-60 -lost to W 5 Notre Dame 60-68
2002	Big Ten	Midwest	4
beat M 13 San Diego St 93-64 beat M 12 Creighton 72-60 lost to M 1 Kansas 69-73
2001	Big Ten	Midwest	1
beat M 16 Northwestern St 96-54 beat M 9 Charlotte 79-61 beat M 4 Kansas 80-64 -lost to M 2 Arizona 81-87
2000	Big Ten	East	4
beat E 13 Pennsylvania 68-58 -lost to E 5 Florida 76-93
1998	Big Ten	West	5
beat W 12 South Alabama 64-51 lost to W 4 Maryland 61-67
1997	Big Ten	Southeast	6
beat SE 11 Southern Cal 90-77 -lost to SE 14 Chattanooga 63-75
1995	Big Ten	East	11
lost to E 6 Tulsa 62-68
1994	Big Ten	Midwest	8
-lost to M 9 Georgetown 77-84
1993	Big Ten	West	6
beat W 11 Long Beach 75-72 lost to W 3 Vanderbilt 68-85
1990	Big Ten	Midwest	5
-lost to M 12 Dayton 86-88
1989	Big Ten	Midwest	1
beat M 16 McNeese St 77-71 beat M 9 Ball State 72-60 beat M 4 Louisville 83-69 beat M 2 Syracuse 89-86 -lost to SE 3 Michigan 81-83
1988	Big Ten	Southeast	3
beat SE 14 UTSA 81-72 -lost to SE 6 Villanova 63-66
1987	Big Ten	Southeast	3
-lost to SE 14 Austin Peay 67-68
1986	Big Ten	Southeast	4
beat SE 13 Fairfield 75-51 -lost to SE 5 Alabama 56-58
1985	Big Ten	East	3
beat E 14 Northeastern 76-57 beat E 6 Georgia 74-58 lost to E 2 Georgia Tech 53-61
1984	Big Ten	Mideast	2
beat ME 7 Villanova 64-56 beat ME 3 Maryland 72-70 lost to ME 1 Kentucky 51-54
1983	Big Ten	West	7
-lost to W 10 Utah 49-52
1981	Big Ten	West	4
beat W 5 Wyoming 67-65 -lost to W 8 Kansas St 52-57
1963	Big Ten	Mideast
beat Bowling Green 70-67 lost to Loyola-Chicago 64-79
1952	Big Ten	East
beat Dayton 80-61 beat Duquesne 74-68 lost to St. John's 59-61 beat Santa Clara 67-64
1951	Big Ten	East
beat Columbia 79-71 beat NC State 84-70 lost to Kentucky 74-76 beat Oklahoma St 61-46
1949	Big Ten	East
beat Yale 71-67 lost to Kentucky 47-76 beat Oregon St 57-53
1942	Big Ten	East
lost to Kentucky 44-46 lost to Penn State 34-41