Illini Earn Sixth Straight NCAA Tournament Bid
March 15, 2026 | Men's Basketball
Ticket Info | Bracket | Tournament Central
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The bracket is officially set for the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Illinois (24-8) is an at-large selection, earning the program's sixth consecutive bid under head coach Brad Underwood. Illinois is the No. 3 seed in the South region.
The Fighting Illini open play in the First Round on Thursday in Greenville, S.C, taking on No. 14 seed Penn (18-11), who won the Ivy League Tournament championship under first-year coach Fran McCaffery, the former Iowa head coach.
Game time is approximately 8:25 p.m. CT and will be televised on TNT.
Illinois is one of only 10 teams nationally – including one of just three from the Big Ten – to earn a bid in each of the last six* NCAA Tournaments (*Illinois' streak would be at seven, but the 2020 Tournament was canceled due to COVID-19).
Illinois' active streak of six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is its longest since participating eight years in a row from 2000 through 2007.
Coach Underwood has now led the Illini to a top-4 NCAA seed for the fourth time in the last six years.
Illinois is making its 36th overall NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, owning an all-time NCAA Tournament record of 46-36.
Coach Underwood, meanwhile, will be making his 10th* NCAA Tournament appearance in 13 years as a head coach (*11th precluded by cancelation of 2020 Tournament due to COVID-19).
