Illinois basketball might have caused another Big Ten coaching change

Winning isn’t easy, and it really isn’t easy when you run into a buzzsaw like the Illinois basketball team.

It hasn’t always been easy for the Illini this season. When we were injured and had illnesses, Illinois hit a rough patch where we were playing .500 basketball. But before that stretch and right now, when we are healthy, Illinois packs a punch.

Indiana felt our wrath back in mid-January. After a tough loss to USC in Champaign, Illinois went on the road to Bloomington and took on the Hoosiers. At the time, Indiana had a good record. They were 13-4 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten.

What happened over the next 40 minutes was ugly. Illinois came out and put up a 60-spot in the first half against the Hoosiers and led by 28 points at halftime. That lead shrunk slightly in the second half, but Illinois still came away with a huge 94-69 win over Indiana at the fake Assembly Hall.

During this contest, toward the end of the game, the Indiana fans started chanting, “Fire Mike Woodson.” This chant marked the end of Woodson’s time at Indiana, as they would go on to finish the season 19-13 overall and 10-10 in the Big Ten. Woodson also announced soon after that he was done after the 2024-25 campaign.

It was crazy that Illinois ended Woodson’s time at Indiana, but I don’t believe we were done ending coaching tenures in the Big Ten. I think the result in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament might end another coaching run.

Fran McCaffery has been at Iowa for 12 seasons. He has been known to be a hothead at times, but Thursday night's showing was embarrassing. In what was a win or go home game, McCaffery couldn’t control his temper and got ejected from the game against Illinois. Iowa was competing too. They were right in it, and McCaffery couldn’t be an adult.

The icing on the McCaffery meltdown was the images at the end of the game. Iowa’s seniors walked off the court crying. They put everything into this game, this program, and their legacies at Iowa. Payton Sandfort, in particular, put up a huge game in a big spot. McCaffery couldn’t even be there for them at the end of their college careers because of his temper issues.

On top of those issues, McCaffery hasn’t had much coaching success lately. He is about to miss his second straight NCAA tournament. Iowa has had fewer than 10 losses just one time in 12 seasons under McCaffery. Iowa hasn’t advanced past the Round of 32 during McCaffery’s tenure, despite the Hawkeyes earning a No. 2 and No. 5 seed.

Illinois basketball has gotten the best of Fran McCaffery as of late

McCaffery has struggled in the coaching ranks while at Iowa, and as of late, the Illini have had tremendous success against the ill-tempered coach.

After the 106-94 win over the Hawkeyes on Thursday night, Illinois has now won four in a row against Iowa, all of which were by double-digit points. If you want to go even further back, the Illini have now won nine out of the last 10 against McCaffery and his Iowa squad.

Despite McCaffery saying he wants to come back to Iowa, I don’t think it will be his choice. He hasn’t earned that clout. I think there is a chance that Illinois ended the coaching jobs of two Big Ten coaches during the 2024-25 season.