Thanks to Illinois and Bradley, the Land of Lincoln was represented in the Final Four of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament in five of six years between 1949 and 1954.
The Fighting Illini won four Big Ten titles during Harry Combes's 20-year run as their head coach--and made it to the Final Four the first three times. Future Bulls head coach and broadcaster Johnny "Red" Kerr was the star of the 1951-52 team that went 22-4 and was ranked No. 2 in the nation before losing a heartbreaker to St. John's in the semifinal game. The Illini's next Big Ten championship and NCAA berth came eleven years later. After subduing Bowling Green 70-67 in the first round, Illinois ran into a buzzsaw in the form of the eventual champion Loyola Ramblers.
The Braves won the Missouri Valley Conference in 1949-50 and were ranked No. 1 in the nation heading into the postseason. They took part in both the NIT and NCAA tournaments, and lost the championship game of each to City College of New York. This was the year of an infamous point-shaving scandal that originated at CCNY and several other schools in the New York City area and eventually involved players at Bradley, Kentucky, and Toledo.
Four years later, the Braves slogged through the regular season at 13-11, then caught fire in the tournament and defeated Oklahoma City, Colorado, Oklahoma State, and USC before cooling off in the championship game against LaSalle.
The 1989 "Flyin' Illini" suffered their school's third straight two-point loss in the NCAA semifinal game, dating back to 1951. The 2005 Illini, under Bruce Weber, made it all the way to the championship game before narrowly losing to North Carolina. They are one of only four Illinois teams to appear in the title game, and one of three to lose that game. To date, the 1963 Loyola Ramblers are the only Illinois team to win all the marbles.
 |
MAYOR RICHARD J. DALEY (RIGHT) CONGRATULATES THE 1963 RAMBLERS.
|
|
|
ILLINOIS TEAMS IN THE NCAA MEN'S TOURNAMENT FINAL FOUR
Year Team Coach Result
1943 DePaul Ray Meyer Lost semifinal game vs. Georgetown, 53-49
1949 Illinois Harry Combes Lost semifinal game vs. Kentucky, 76-47
1950 Bradley Forrest Anderson Won semifinal game vs. Baylor, 68-66
Lost title game vs. CCNY, 71-68
1951 Illinois Harry Combes Lost semifinal game vs. Kentucky, 76-74
1952 Illinois Harry Combes Lost semifinal game vs. St. John's, 61-59
1954 Bradley Forrest Anderson Won semifinal game vs. USC, 74-72
Lost title game vs. LaSalle, 92-76
1963 Loyola George Ireland Won semifinal game vs. Duke, 94-75
Won title game vs. Cincinnati, 60-58 (OT)
1979 DePaul Ray Meyer Lost semifinal game vs. Indiana St., 76-74
1989 Illinois Lou Henson Lost semifinal game vs. Michigan, 83-81
2005 Illinois Bruce Weber Won semifinal game vs. Louisville, 72-57
Lost title game vs. North Carolina, 75-70
2018 Loyola Porter Moser Lost semifinal game vs. Michigan, 69-57
No comments:
Post a Comment