Five Fun Facts: Illinois

To say Iowa and Illinois men's basketball have a history with one another would be an understatement. When rivalries are mentioned in college basketball, the immediate pivot is towards Duke-North Carolina, Louisville-Kentucky, or Indiana-Purdue. 

But what about Iowa and Illinois? While they don't share the same championship history that Duke and North Carolina have, the rivalry is one of, if not the fiercest in the Midwest. Why the rivalry is so heated is a conversation for another day (stay tuned for that on Friday afternoon). 

Instead of trash-talking your Fighting Illini friends and relatives, relax and have some fun. While you anxiously wait for another chapter of the rivalry to begin on Sunday, check out five fun facts about Illinois. 

Abraham Lincoln helped establish the university: The university's roots date back to 1862, and you won't believe who had a hand in starting it. That's right, legendary U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was actively involved in the formation of what eventually became his home state's most recognizable university. This was through the Morrill Act of 1862, which allowed each of the 37 United States a section of land to establish a public state university (Iowa State University was also established because of this). Thus, the state eventually opened Illinois Industrial University in 1868. It received its current name of The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2021. 

Illinois has one of the largest public enrollments in the country: While the University of Iowa has the 14th-smallest enrollments in the Big Ten Conference (30,000 students), Illinois boasts one of the nation's largest. The school had nearly 60,000 students enrolled during the 2024-25 school year, which ranks as the fifth-largest in the entire country and second-most in the Big Ten (Ohio State). 

Illinois is nicknamed the Fighting Illini because of the Indian tribe: Like many schools at the time (including Iowa State's Cyclones nickname), we know the Fighting Illini as the Fighting Illini today because of a local newspaper headline. According to a 2024 article in the Lincoln Journal Star, the nickname "Fighting Illini" first appeared in a newspaper article in 1911, taking the name from the Illiniwek Indian tribe that once occupied the state. 

Illinois was forced to retire its costumed mascot: According to the same Lincoln Journal Star story, the Fighting Illini used to have a mascot named Chief Illiniwek. The costume featured one of the students dressed as an Illini, but the NCAA forced Illinois to retire the costume and its associated logo in 2007, citing that it was "hostile and abusive" towards the Native American community. 

How many times has Illinois men's basketball reached the Final Four? The Fighting Illini have made it to the Final Four on five occasions - 1949, 1951, 1952, 1989, 2005. The last two trips have ended in heartbreak for Illinois fans, as the 1989 team was upset by Big Ten rival Michigan at the buzzer in the national semifinals, while the 2005 team - ranked No. 1 for the entire season - could not complete the second half comeback and fell to Roy Williams and North Carolina, 75-70, in the national championship game. Illinois hasn't reached the Final Four since, with the next-closest run coming in 2024, when Brad Underwood guided the Fighting Illini to the Elite Eight.

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