Illinois Basketball: Brad Underwood to join rarefied air with NCAA tournament berth

I don’t think you will run into an Illinois basketball fan who will say that this season has been a raving success.

In fact, I would assume most Illini fans have been somewhat disappointed, at best, in what we saw on the basketball court. A team that started preseason No. 23 didn’t even sniff the top 25 by the season’s end.

There were so many expectations on this Illini bunch after landing a top-20 recruiting class and two of the most wanted transfers in the portal. This was supposed to be a great year for the program.

While things didn’t go the way we had all hoped through the regular season and Big Ten Tournament, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the Illini will be dancing on Sunday night.

On Selection Sunday, we should be hearing, “the Fighting Illini of Illinois” come out of Greg Gumbel’s mouth preceded by some type of seeding for the NCAA tournament. That isn’t a question on anyone’s mind.

Brad Underwood’s impressive run with Illinois is another thing that isn’t in question. He has formed the Illini from a floundering program that hoped to make the bubble into a perennial postseason program.

Illinois basketball head coach Brad Underwood is in rarefied air when it comes to the NCAA tournament

I know that some people have issues with Underwood. Shoot, I have been critical on multiple occasions, especially this season. There are even people who are calling for his job.

With that being said, I think we need to step back and think about what Underwood has done since taking over Illinois.

Illinois has recruited much better, we are winning games, and most importantly, we are making the postseason. I don’t mean the NIT postseason, which the previous regime managed to accomplish. I mean the real one, the NCAA tournament.

On Sunday night, as mentioned above, Illinois fans will hear our name called to make the NCAA tournament. This is a great feeling and one we are all now used to. When you break it down, this will be the third straight NCAA tournament appearance and the fourth straight tournament we have qualified for. Thanks to COVID-19, we couldn’t play in the 2020 NCAA tournament but finished the season ranked No. 21 in the AP Top 25.

I would like to go over the list of Illinois basketball coaches who have qualified for four straight NCAA tournament appearances. Lou Henson, Bruce Weber, and now Underwood. That is it, that is the list.

Illinois basketball’s first recorded season on basketball-reference is the 1905-06 campaign. We have played 118 seasons, and only three head coaches have qualified for four straight NCAA tournament appearances.

While the 2022-23 campaign didn’t go the way Illinois fans had hoped, we are still a good program. Qualifying for four straight NCAA tournaments is quite the accomplishment, and who knows, maybe we can play Cinderella this season?