NCAA Previews: Recognize the Illinois Fighting Illini

Conference: Big Ten
Record: 23-11, 9-7 in conference
RPI: 29
How They Got In: At large.

Mascot: They're called the Fighting Illini, but they have no mascot now that the university got rid of Chief Illiniwek. If they had known they were going to the NCAA tournament, the school probably wouldn't have gotten rid of the Chief -- they banned the Chief in large part because the NCAA wouldn't allow them to host an NIT game if they didn't, and the school thought it was going to the NIT.

Big Wins: No huge wins, but the Illini did beat Michigan State once and Indiana twice in the Big Ten, plus they beat Bradley in the nonconference portion of the schedule.

Notable Loss: A loss at Iowa in the season finale is the only particularly bad loss on the Illini's schedule. Iowa provided the worst loss for Indiana, Illinois and Michigan State.

Player You Should Know: Senior Warren Carter is the Illini's best player, and he especially makes his presence felt on defense, where Illinois has been absolutely shutting down its opponents of late.

Outlook: As 12 seeds go, the Illini have a fairly favorable draw. It's not unthinkable that they could beat both Virginia Tech in the first round and Southern Illinois in the second. Illinois probably won't reach the Sweet 16, but don't rule it out.