Why Illinois can — and cannot — pull off Big Ten Tournament title

Illinois will receive some much-needed rest this week before playing in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday. The conference tournament will be held inside the United Center this season for the first time since 2023. The Illini lost to Penn State in the second round of that tournament and will look for a better performance this time around.

The winner of USC and Washington on Wednesday will play five-seeded Wisconsin on Thursday. The winner of that game will face Illinois on Friday for a trip to the semifinals.

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Can Illinois win another Big Ten Tournament championship?

It will not be the easiest path for Illinois to win the conference tournament title for the third time since 2021. The Illini will likely play Wisconsin on Friday and then could get a rematch with No. 1 seed and tournament favorite Michigan in the semifinals.

Despite the tough draw, Illinois currently has the second-best odds (per FanDuel) to win the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 4 seed. The Illini are the second-best team in the league by a wide margin on KenPom and other analytical sites, so those odds check out.

The No. 4 seed has not won its first game in the Big Ten Tournament since 2019, when Wisconsin beat Nebraska inside the United Center. The five seed has moved on to the semifinals in 2021, 2022, 2024, and 2025, while 13-seeded Ohio State made the semifinals in 2023. (No tourney in 2020.) Illinois will need to bring its A+ game on Friday afternoon to beat a Wisconsin team that has reached the championship game in each of the past two tournaments.

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No team has ever won the national championship after losing the first game of their conference tournament.

Let’s dive deeper into the Illini’s chances to win the tournament. There are reasons to believe Illinois can win this title, but there are also reasons why they likely will not.

1. Offensive rebounding dominance

The Illini are still one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country and could lean on that…

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Publish date : 2026-03-11 02:48:00

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