NCAA Tournament: Illinois men get a No. 3 seed and will face Penn in the 1st round

Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune on Mar 15, 2026

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CHICAGO — The Illinois men’s basketball team received a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday and will play 14th-seeded Penn in the first round Thursday in Greenville, S.C.

The winner will face No. 6 seed North Carolina or No. 11 VCU on Saturday.

The Illini are in the South Region along with No. 1 seed Florida and No. 2 Houston. The regional semifinals and final are March 26 and 28 in Houston, and 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.

Illinois coach Brad Underwood said Friday after the loss to the Badgers that his team was looking forward to the reboot.

“We get another life, man,” he said. “That’s all we’ve been talking about. And the best thing is we don’t see a Big Ten team. It’s a fresh life. It’s a new experience. It’s fun.”

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.

Penn, coached by former Iowa coach Fran McCaffery, upset top-seeded Yale 88-84 in the Ivy League Tournament final Sunday to make 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. 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.

Sophomore guard A.J. Levine, averages 8.3 points and four assists, and 6-9 freshman forward/center Dalton Scantlebury 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 are 1-1 against Big Ten opponents this season, losing to Michigan State in November and beating Ohio State in December.

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