Illinois basketball heads to Omaha as a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament

It has been a wild day for the Illinois basketball team, and things continue to get wilder.

Earlier on Sunday, the Illini took on a tough Wisconsin team in the Big Ten Tournament title game. The Badgers put up an incredible fight, but Illinois was able to secure the win, 93-87. This victory marked the second Big Ten Tournament title for the Illini in the last four years.

With that win, Illinois helped secure a great seed in the NCAA tournament. Selection Sunday is upon us, and while most Illini fans are still on a high from the win, we get to continue that high with our official March Madness seeding.

On CBS, it was revealed that Illinois is entering the NCAA tournament as a No. 3 seed. We will be traveling out to Omaha, Nebraska, for the first two rounds in the East Region. Who are we taking on? No. 14 seed Morehead State. They were 26-8 this season.

Illinois basketball looking to break recent struggles in the NCAA tournament

Now that the Illini are officially back in the NCAA tournament, it is time to finally start advancing deeper into the Big Dance. It has been a while since we saw the second weekend.

Brad Underwood has done a good job getting Illinois to the NCAA tournament, though. We are about to play in our fourth straight postseason, and it would have been five in a row if it wasn’t for a worldwide pandemic.

But Illinois hasn’t advanced past the second round in the last three NCAA tournament appearances. We were upset in the second round in 2021 as a No. 1 seed. No. 8 Loyola-Chicago took us down 71-58. In 2022, No. 4 Illinois got to the second round and fell to No. 5 Houston 68-53. Last season, we couldn’t get the bat off our shoulders, as No. 8 Arkansas took us out in the first round.

The excitement of just making the NCAA tournament has worn off. Those feelings were in the first couple of years after a seven-season layoff from the postseason. I want to go deep into the 2024 NCAA tournament, which could be the first time we advance past the first weekend since the 2004-05 national title run.

The 2024 NCAA tournament marks the 20-year anniversary of that great run to the pinnacle of the college game. Let’s mirror that team and advance all the way to the championship game. Maybe this time, we can make history.