Column | Illinois Fighting Illini will win the 2026 Men’s Basketball Championship

We’re more than 10 days into a March Madness Tournament that has seen unexpected deep runs and dominant performances. Three of the final four top seeds remain after the Florida Gators were bounced out by head coach Ben McCollum’s Iowa Hawkeyes in the Sweet 16 round. The Hawkeyes became the first No. 9 seed to make the Elite 8 since the Florida Atlantic Owls in 2023, who ultimately lost in the final four to No. 5 San Diego State. 

In this year’s tournament, Iowa and Texas are the two highest seeds to make runs to the Elite 8 and Sweet 16, respectively. In the Sweet 16 match between Texas and No. 2 Purdue, the game came down to the wire as Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn scored a buzzer-beater tip-in layup to put Purdue up as the game clock expired. He finished the game with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field. 

In the South Region Elite Eight matchup between No. 3 Illinois and No. 9 Iowa, head coach Brad Underwood outcoached Iowa’s McCollum, winning 71-59 and leading the Illini to their first Final Four appearance since 2005. The Fighting Illini finished the regular season tied for 2nd place in the Big Ten regular season with a conference record of 15-5. 

So far in the tournament, Illinois has looked like a true contender with dominant wins over No. 11 VCU, No. 2 Houston Cougars and Big Ten rival Iowa Hawkeyes.

Illinois’ elite guard play, led by first-year Keaton Wagler and junior Andrej Stojakovic, has played a crucial role in Illinois’ overall performance this March. In its 35-point victory over No. 14 Penn in the first round, Wagler shot 50% from the field with 18 points. Then, in the dominant win over Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars, Wagler posted a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double in 38 minutes. 

In addition, Illinois’ forwards have been phenomenal this tournament, with several strong defensive outings and rebounding leading to second-chance points.

The Fighting Illini will have to face the East Region champion and No. 2 UConn Huskies, led by two-time NCAA Division I national champion head coach Dan Hurley.