For selected stories involving the Illini in the NCAAs, click here

1942

Eastern Playoffs

at New Orleans

Kentucky 46, Illinois 44

Penn State 41, Illinois 34

Comment: The arrival of the famed Whiz Kids kicked off Illinois' two-year run as Big Ten champion. But Doug Mills' 18-win team couldn't sustain that success in an eight-team NCAA tournament.

1949

Eastern Playoffs

at New York

Illinois 71, Yale 67

Kentucky 56, Illinois 47

Final Playoffs

at Seattle

Illinois 57, Oregon State 53 (third place)

Comment: Led by All-Americans Bill Erickson and Dike Eddleman, the Big Ten champs were Illinois' first 20-game winners since 1908, finishing 21-4.

1951

Eastern Playoffs

at New York

Illinois 79, Columbia 71

Illinois 84, N.C. State 70

Kentucky 76, Illinois 74

Final Playoffs

at Minneapolis

Illinois 61, Oklahoma A&M 46 (third place)

Comment: A basket with 12 seconds left by Kentucky reserve Shelby Linville was the difference.

1952

Mideast Regional

at Chicago

Illinois 80, Dayton 61

Illinois 74, Duquesne 68

Final Playoffs

at Seattle

St. John's 61, Illinois 59

Illinois 67, Santa Clara 64 (third place)

Comment: A second straight Big Ten title and the arrival of John Kerr gave Illini fans hope it would be the year for an NCAA breakthrough. An underdog St. John's team dashed hopes in the NCAA debut of a Final Four format.

1963

Mideast Regional

at East Lansing, Mich.

Illinois 70, Bowling Green 67

Loyola 79, Illinois 64

Comment: In the same year the Assembly Hall opened, Harry Combes' Illini earned a share of the Big Ten crown. Awarded a first-round bye, Illinois survived a scare to reach the regional finals, where a Loyola squad bound for a national title knocked off its state rival.

1981

Western Regional (No. 4 seed)

at Los Angeles

Illinois 67, Wyoming 65

at Salt Lake City

Kansas State 57, Illinois 52

Comment: An 18-year NCAA drought ended as Lou Henson's Illini won nine of their last 12 Big Ten games to earn third place and a first-round bye. Eddie Johnson & Co. were outscored 17-2 at the foul line by methodical Kansas State.

1983

Western Regional (No. 4 seed)

at Boise, Idaho

Utah 52, Illinois 49

Comment: The arrival of a blue-chip recruiting class (Bruce Douglas, Efrem Winters, Doug Altenberger) kicked off the start of Illinois' longest string of NCAA appearances. In Derek Harper's final collegiate game, the youthful Illini stumbled against the no-name Runnin' Utes.

1984

Mideast Regional

(No. 2 seed)

at Milwaukee

Illinois 64, Villanova 56

at Lexington, Ky.

Illinois 72, Maryland 70

Kentucky 54, Illinois 51

Comment: The Illini tied for the league title and won a school-record 26 games. A controversial loss on the Wildcats' court with a Final Four berth at stake prompted the NCAA to institute the neutral-court rule for its tournament.

1985

East Regional

(No. 3 seed)

at Atlanta

Illinois 76, Northeastern 57

Illinois 74, Georgia 58

at Providence, R.I.

Georgia Tech 61, Illinois 53

Comment: Ranked No. 1 in Basketball Times' preseason poll, the Illini won 26 games and ran their home winning streak to 24. Henson's crew cruised into the regionals before a Yellow Jackets team led by future pros Mark Price and John Salley stung Illinois despite 24 points by Altenberger.

1986

Southeast Regional (No. 4 seed)

at Charlotte, N.C.

Illinois 75, Fairfield 51

Alabama 58, Illinois 56

Comment: The Douglas-Winters-Altenberger era came to a disappointing end in the second round against the fifth-seeded Crimson Tide. Winters went scoreless and Douglas managed six points while an injured Altenberger watched from the bench. Scrappy junior guard Tony Wysinger went down fighting with 18 points.

1987

Southeast Regional (No. 3 seed)

at Birmingham, Ala.

Austin Peay 68, Illinois 67

Comment: Probably the most disappointing postseason appearance in Illini history. A 23-victory season, including 13-5 in the Big Ten, ended with a shocking upset against Lake Kelly's Governors. Ken Norman had 17 points and 12 rebounds.

1988

Southeast Regional (No. 3 seed)

at Cincinnati

Illinois 81, Texas-San Antonio 72

Villanova 66, Illinois 61

Comment: The groundwork was laid for the next season's run to the Final Four as Nick Anderson and Kenny Battle made their UI debuts in a 23-win season.

1989

Midwest Regional (No. 1 seed)

at Indianapolis

Illinois 77, McNeese State 71

Illinois 72, Ball State 60

at Minneapolis

Illinois 83, Louisville 69

Illinois 89, Syracuse 86

Final Four

at Seattle

Michigan 83, Illinois 81

Comment: When Henson's team won its first 17 games and rose to a No. 1 ranking, Illini fans knew they were in for something special. Even the loss of Kendall Gill for 12 games (broken foot) couldn't stop the Flyin' Illini's march to a No. 1 seed in the Midwest. It continued all the way to the national semifinals, where the Illini and eventual champion Michigan met for the third time that season. A stunning 31-victory season ended on Sean Higgins' late basket.

1990

Midwest Regional (No. 5 seed)

at Austin, Texas

Dayton 88, Illinois 86

Comment: Gill led the Big Ten in scoring and was named a first-team All-American by UPI. Illinois' eighth straight 20-win season ended in the first round, and Gill headed to the NBA as the fifth overall draft pick.

1993

West Regional (No. 6 seed)

at Salt Lake City

Illinois 75, Long Beach State 72

Vanderbilt 85, Illinois 68

Comment: A year after posting its first losing record in 14 seasons, Deon Thomas and Andy Kaufmann led Illinois back to the NCAA tournament. Vanderbilt (56.9 percent from the field) won a rematch of the previous November's Great Alaska Shootout victory by the Illini.

1994

Midwest Regional (No. 8 seed)

at Oklahoma City

Georgetown 84, Illinois 77

Comment: The Illini shot 53.8 percent in the first half and still trailed 38-37 at the break. After breaking out to a 73-67 lead with less than seven minutes left, Illinois started breaking down under the weight of a season-high 23 turnovers and managed four more points.

1995

East Regional (No. 11 seed)

at Albany, N.Y.

Tulsa 68, Illinois 62

Comment: Tulsa scored the game's final seven points, and Illinois, which led by 12 in the second half, finished the game shooting 39.3 percent from the field.

1997

Southeast Regional (No. 6 seed)

at Charlotte, N.C.

Illinois 90, Southern Cal 77

Tenn.-Chattanooga 75, Illinois 63

Comment: It was the first time since 1989 the Illini ended the regular season in the Top 25. But 14th seed Chattanooga outscored Illinois 30-11 in the final seven minutes.

1998

West Regional (No. 5 seed)

at Sacramento, Calif.

Illinois 64, South Alabama 51

Maryland 67, Illinois 61

Comment: The Big Ten co-champs received their highest seed in eight years, but Illinois rallied from 12 back before fading in the Sweet 16.

2000

East Regional (No. 4 seed)

at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Illinois 68, Penn 58

Florida 93, Illinois 76

Comment: Lon Kruger bowed out as Illinois' coach against the team he guided to the Final Four in 1994.

2001

Midwest Regional (No. 1 seed)

at Dayton, Ohio

Illinois 96, Northwestern State 54

Illinois 79, Charlotte 61

at San Antonio

Illinois 80, Kansas 64

Arizona 87, Illinois 81

Comment: Reaching the Elite Eight for the first time since '89, the Big Ten co-champs ran into Arizona a third time. Despite a career-high 25 points from Robert Archibald, the Illini lost a matchup in which 59 fouls were called and 81 free throws launched.

2002

Midwest Regional (No. 4 seed)

at Chicago

Illinois 93, San Diego State 64

Illinois 72, Creighton 60

at Madison, Wis.

Kansas 73, Illinois 69

Comment: In his final tournament for Illinois, guard Frank Williams racked up 25 and 20 points in the first two rounds to lead the Big Ten champions into the Sweet 16 for the second straight year.

2003

West Regional (No. 4 seed)

at Indianapolis

Illinois 65, Western Kentucky 60

Notre Dame 68, Illinois 60

Comment: In Brian Cook's final game for the Illini, the Big Ten Player of the Year bowed out with a double-double (19 points, 16 rebounds). But the future Laker wasn't immune to teamwide shooting struggles, going 6 of 23. With Illinois shooting 34.9 percent, a 47-point Notre Dame first half was too much to overcome.

2004

Atlanta Regional (No. 5 seed)

at Columbus, Ohio

Illinois 72, Murray State 53

Illinois 92, Cincinnati 68

at Atlanta

Duke 72, Illinois 62

Comment: Coming off its first outright Big Ten title in 52 years, Illinois beat a higher-seeded team (No. 4 Cincinnati) for the first time in history. The torrid-shooting Illini burned the Bearcats from tipoff to final buzzer, hitting 11 threes and 63.6 percent overall. Top-seeded Duke then ended Illinois' third Sweet 16 trip in four years behind future Chicago Bull Luol Deng's 18 points.

2005

Chicago Regional (No. 1 seed)

at Indianapolis

Illinois 67, Fairleigh Dickinson 55

Illinois 71, Nevada 59

at Rosemont

Illinois 77, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 63

Illinois 90, Arizona 89 (OT)

Final Four

at St. Louis

Illinois 72, Louisville 57

North Carolina 75, Illinois 70

Comment: Call it what it was - the greatest season in Illini basketball history. In what perhaps was the greatest game in Illini history, too, Illinois stamped its ticket to the Final Four with a wildly improbable rally against Arizona. Down 15 points with four minutes left in regulation, the Illini stormed back to force OT, then withstood the Wildcats' own furious last-gasp comeback. No. 1 Illinois' first Final Four trip since 1989 was a bittersweet experience. In the semis, the Illini tied an NCAA record with their 37th win. Then Sean May made sure there would be no No. 38 with a double-double (26 points, 10 rebounds). The Tar Heels made a 13-point halftime lead barely stand up to deny Illinois its first national title.

2006

Washington D.C. Regional (No. 4 seed)

at San Diego

Illinois 78, Air Force 69

Washington 67, Illinois 64

Comment: There would be no Final Four run this time, the Illini knocked out in the second round by a Washington team that rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit. The Huskies did their damage at the foul line, outscoring Illinois 28-9. Illini favorite son Dee Brown played all 40 minutes in his final collegiate game while contributing 15 points and a game-high six assists.

2007

West Regional (No. 12 seed)

at Columbus, Ohio

Virginia Tech 54, Illinois 52

Comment: Leading by 10 points with just over four minutes left, Illinois appeared poised to knock off the fifth-seeded Hokies. Then the Illini offense went dry, failing to score a point over the final 4:28 while Virginia Tech was finishing the game with a 12-0 run. It wasn't a new experience for this 23-12 Illinois team. "... it's kind of typical of our season," coch Bruce Weber said. " We've led in something like eight or nine of our 12 losses, but just couldn't finish the game."