The NCAA sports record book goes all the way back to 1948. Since then, only nine basketball teams have gone undefeated. The most recent team was the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers, powered by the smooth stride of Isiah Thomas and the always-fiery Bobby Knight. Since then four teams have been undefeated through the regular season but lost in the tournament. The team that came closest to remaining undefeated was Larry Bird’s 1979 Indiana State team, which lost in the finals.
The University of Illinois Fighting Illini are currently sitting at 25-0 as the number-one ranked team. The Illini most recently defeated the Top 25 Wisconsin team, which many experts considered to have the best chance at beating the Illini in the regular season. Illinois is left with just five games remaining, and their toughest opponent is considered to be Iowa, who will play at home but will be missing their leading scorer, Pierre Pierce.
The Fighting Illini are led by a formation that plays three guards and a very up-tempo offense. Luther Head, Dee Brown and Deron Williams are the three guards and the three leading scorers on the team.
Many so-called college basketball experts have a more pessimistic outlook on Bruce Weber’s unbeaten squad. ESPN’s Pat Forde recently wrote an article discussing how being on top of the polls for such an extended period of time has hurt teams in the past, such as Arizona’s 2003 team, which received a premature tournament exit in the region final. The 2000 Cincinnati team also lost in the second round, but this was due to Kenyon Martin breaking his leg against Saint Louis University in the Conference USA tournament only weeks before.
The Illini have been outstanding at home with an unbeaten streak, outscoring five ranked teams by over ten points each game. If the Illini go undefeated and receive the number-one seed in the Midwest, they will be playing very close to home, which is a big plus for a college team. The Midwest bracket will be played at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, which is roughly a four-and-a-half hour drive. The regional will be played in Chicago, another four-and-a-half hour drive. And the Final Four will be held right here in St. Louis! Playing home games in the college ranks could spell “championship” for the unbeaten Fighting Illini.