Break out the parachute pants and dance around the room to “Material Girl.”
Not since 1985 has Illinois sent four men’s college basketball teams to the NCAA tournament, but the state is about to do it again.
Loyola, Illinois, Illinois State and DePaul were the squads in 1985. This year’s tournament selection is Sunday, but it’s never to early to get excited. Horizon Conference champion UIC is officially in while the Big Ten’s Illinois and Conference USA’s DePaul need to deal with conference tourneys first.
Southern Illinois sputtered in the Missouri Valley Conference tourney, but the top 25 Salukis can make travel plans.
What does it all mean? Plenty more area school fans will be filling out their brackets with hearts instead of heads.
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Here’s a look at Illinois’ finest.
Southern Illinois Salukis
Record: 25-4
Last year at this time: Under then-coach Bruce Weber, top-seeded Southern Illinois was thumped by Creighton 80-56 in the MVC tournament. Missouri beat them 72-71 in the first round of the NCAA tourney.
Down the stretch: The No. 24 Salukis took another one on the chin, losing 80-74 to Southwest Missouri State in the MVC semifinals.
Next four days: Forget the MVC tourney, sit tight and smile for the CBS cameras, which will be set up to watch the Salukis watch Sunday’s selection show.
UIC Flames
Record: 24-7
Last year at this time: The Flames finished 21-9 after losing at Western Michigan 63-62 in their NIT opener.
Down the stretch: Not only did the Flames earn their third NCAA bid, but they racked up 12 straight wins and took the Horizon tourney title against rival Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Next four days: UIC can gear up to try to go further than they
did in 2002 when No. 2 seed Oklahoma dismissed them 71-63 in the first round of the NCAA tourney.
Illinois Fighting Illini
Record: 22-5
Last year at this time: The Big Ten tourney champs finished 25-7 after losing to Notre Dame in the NCAA tourney. Soon after, Bill Self left for Kansas.
Down the stretch: The No. 12 Illini (13-3 in the Big Ten) distanced themselves from the pack with 10 straight victories, the most recent coming at Ohio State for the regular season title.
Next four days: They can’t forget that four times in the last six seasons, the Big Ten tourney’s top seed fell its first time out. The No. 1 seed’s all-time record in the Big Ten tourney is a hideous 4-5.
DePaul Blue Demons
Record: 19-8
Last year at this time: The Blue Demons finished the season 16-13 overall after North Carolina dropped them 83-72 in the first round of the NIT.
Down the stretch: They won 12 of their last 14 games to finish in a crazy five-way tie for first place in the C-USA regular season.
Next four days: The C-USA’s top seed faces TCU
on Thursday. Running the table with three wins makes them an incredibly dangerous team to face in NCAA’s early rounds.
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Edited by Chris Malcolm (ccmalcolm@tribune.com) and Chris Courtney (cdcourtney@tribune.com)
