Illinois ended the Cinderella run of Big Ten rival Iowa and booked its place in its first Final Four in 21 years, all at the same time.
The No. 3 seed from the South Region didn’t bat an eye at a 4-point halftime deficit, turning back the 9th-seeded Hawkeyes, 71-59, to advance to the Final Four next week in Indianapolis. Saturday night’s thrilling victory in Houston means the Fighting Illini will be heading back to Big Ten country in the heartland to play for a national title.
Illinois, which improved to 28-8 during an already special season that just got a lot more special on Saturday night, will face the winner of Sunday’s East Region final in Washington between No. 1 overall seed Duke and No. 2 seed UConn. That next challenge is still a week away, as the Fighting Illini celebrate on this Saturday night and get ready to head back north.
This is Illinois’ first trip to the Final Four since 2005, when it advanced to the national title game before falling to North Carolina. The Illini will try to snap the Big Ten’s national championship drought at 26 years in Indianapolis, with the conference not cutting down the nets in men’s basketball since Michigan State won it all in 2000.
WELCOME BACK, ILLINI #MarchMadness @IlliniMBB pic.twitter.com/r5ZQH6XGaW
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2026Iowa, which finished an equally special and shocking run all the way to the Elite Eight with a 24-13 record, took a 32-28 lead but had no answers in the second half for its Big Ten brothers, who beat the Hawkeyes for the second time this season after winning in Iowa City back in January.
After Iowa took a 51-50 lead with 7:27 left on Bennett Stirtz’s 2 free throws, it was total domination by Illinois, which went on a game-deciding 10-1 run to take a 60-52 lead with 4:12 remaining. The Hawkeyes got within 4 with exactly 2 minutes to go on Tate Sage’s 2 free throws, but that was as close as scrappy Iowa would get, as the Fighting Illini scored the game’s final 8 points to dance off with the victory and the first of the Big Ten’s possible 3 berths in the Final Four.
Purdue and Michigan can still book trips to Indianapolis from the conference, but Illinois will be going regardless after outscoring Iowa, 43-27, in the second half.
(3) ILLINOIS IS INDY BOUND The Illini defeat (9) Iowa 71-59 to book the first spot in the #MFinalFour #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/hFGEh9lJnL
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2026Illinois only shot 18% from 3-point territory on Saturday night, but it didn’t matter, with the Illini blasting the Hawkeyes on the boards with a 38-21 rebounding advantage. Keaton Wagler led the way for Illinois as he has so many times this season, scoring a game-high 25 points in 38 minutes.
Andrej Stojakovic was stellar off the bench for the Illini, posting 17 points and 5 rebounds in 27 minutes. Tomislav Ivisic added 13 points, and David Mirkovic was a beast on the boards with 12 rebounds to go with his 9 points.
THE ILLINI ARE INDY BOUND FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2005 ILLINOIS WILL PLAY IN THE FINAL FOUR #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/oaE954NGGg
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2026Iowa didn’t have enough offensively on Saturday night, especially in the second half, and it shot just 38% from the field for the game. Stirtz led the Hawkeyes with 24 points while playing all 40 minutes, but Sage was the only other Iowa player to score in double figures with 10 points off the bench.
It was an amazing run for Iowa, including its second-round upset of defending national champion Florida, but it was Illinois’ time to finally return to the Final Four.
With Illinois punching its ticket to Indianapolis next week, here is what the Kalshi market is currently seeing for the 7 remaining teams regarding their odds to cut down the nets in Indy on April 6:
Prediction Markets 2026 College Basketball Champion? Learn more about Prediction Markets Kalshi Arizona 26% Michigan 24% Duke 20% Illinois 17% UConn 5% Purdue 5% Tennessee 3% Iowa 1% PredictIllinois beats Iowa, punches ticket to Final Four Saturday Down South.
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