Illinois coach Brad Underwood told reporters on Selection Sunday that it was a relief to finally escape the grind of Big Ten play and learn the team’s NCAA Tournament opponent.
The Illini’s first-round foe has a Big Ten connection, though.
Illinois received the No. 3 seed in the South Region and will play 14th-seeded Penn in the first round at 8:25 p.m. Thursday in Greenville, S.C. The Quakers, who upset top-seeded Yale 88-84 in the Ivy League Tournament final Sunday, are coached by former Iowa coach Fran McCaffery.
McCaffery is in his first season at Penn after 15 seasons at Iowa, where he became the Hawkeyes’ all-time winningest coach. Underwood called him “a great friend.”
“He’s an elite competitor as I am, and for those 40 minutes, you hook it up and then you hug after and wish the winner the best,” Underwood said. “We’ve had a lot of battles with Fran over the years, and I know we’re going get a team that’s very, very well-coached who’s going to play extremely hard.”
The Illinois-Penn winner will face No. 6 seed North Carolina or No. 11 VCU on Saturday.
No. 1 seed Florida and No. 2 Houston head up the South Region, which will play its regional semifinals and final March 26 and 28 in Houston. The Final Four will be played April 4 and 6 in Indianapolis.
The Illini (24-8) received their seeding two days after dropping their first game in the Big Ten Tournament, a quarterfinal overtime loss to Wisconsin. The loss was Illinois’ fifth in its last nine games, a stretch that likely hurt its seeding, though all of the losses were to NCAA Tournament teams.
Underwood said Sunday the Illini had a great practice after the loss to the Badgers and are ready to reboot.
“Once this hits, no one talks about the Big Ten Tournament anymore,” he said. “You go in segments and waves throughout the season, and you have so many ups and downs in the course of the season in this league. You’re going to win some games and you’re going to lose some games, and that’s what happens when you play at the highest level.
“So now it’s not Big Ten opponents and it’s time to just go let it rip and go play and have fun and do what we do, and we’ll do that against somebody that isn’t in this conference.”
While Penn made its first NCAA Tournament since 2018, McCaffery will be coaching his fifth team in the tournament, having also guided Lehigh, UNC Greensboro, Siena and Iowa into the dance.
The Quakers are 18-11 and went 9-5 in Ivy League play. They have five players from Illinois on their roster, including leading scorer Ethan Roberts, a 6-foot-5 wing from Hersey in Arlington Heights. However, Roberts missed the Ivy League Tournament with a concussion, and the Philadelphia Inquirer reported he is not expected to return for any postseason play.
In Roberts’ absence, junior forward TJ Power had 44 points and 14 rebounds in the championship game.
Sophomore guard A.J. Levine, from York in Elmhurst, averages 8.3 points and four assists, and 6-9 freshman forward/center Dalton Scantlebury, from Lane Tech in Chicago, averages six points and four rebounds.
If the Illini get past Penn, they could have a potential date with North Carolina (24-8), making its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in five seasons under coach Hubert Davis. That would be a rematch of the 2005 national championship game that North Carolina won under former coach Roy Williams.
The Tar Heels — who lost star freshman Caleb Wilson for the season after he broke his right thumb in practice earlier this month — are 1-1 against Big Ten opponents this season, losing to Michigan State in November and beating Ohio State in December.
The Illini will make their sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance under Underwood. In 2024 they were a No. 3 seed and advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to eventual national champion Connecticut. They lost to Kentucky in the second round last season after receiving a No. 6 seed.
Last season’s team was led by freshmen Kasparas Jakučionis and Will Riley, who both left for the NBA after one season.
This season the Illini are led by freshmen Keaton Wagler and David Mirković but also have several players with NCAA Tournament experience, including senior Kylan Boswell and twins Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivišić.
Underwood said he has been pleased with the leadership he has received from that group, along with returnees Ben Humrichous and Jake Davis, in the wake of Friday’s loss.
“This team’s been phenomenal with leadership,” he said. “You just look at comparisons over the last few years, it’s been as good as we’ve had.
“Every team’s got its makeup. This team has a lot of character and it is fun, and it becomes more fun when you win.”
