18. Illinois Fighting Illini
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It’s true, recent seasons have not been kind to the Illini, but let’s look at the whole picture. Illinois has been to the NCAA tournament over 30 times, the Elite Eight nine times, and the Final Four five times. At the conference level, Illinois has won 17 Big Ten regular-season crowns.
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Illinois does claim two national titles, but those both came before the inception of the NCAA Tournament, so we’re going to overlook those. The Illini were close in 2005 with Dee Browns and Deron Williams, but they couldn’t overcome Raymond Felton, Sean May, and the rest of the North Carolina Tar Heels.
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