Arizona, Illinois Finally Return to Final Four
For two of the nation's most recognizable college basketball programs in the Arizona Wildcats and Illinois Fighting Illini, it has been a long, winding road spanning multiple decades since their last trip to the Final Four.
With a 71-59 victory over Big Ten foe Iowa in Saturday's early game, the Illini punched their ticket to the Final Four for the first time since the 2004-05 season when they advanced to the championship game and ultimately fell to North Carolina.
That was followed by a 79-64 win by the No. 1 seed Wildcats over No. 2 seed Purdue in the late game, giving Arizona its first Final Four berth since the 2000-01 season when they lost to Duke. To put how long that's been into perspective, Carlos Boozer played for that Blue Devils squad, and now his sons are suiting up at Duke.
How did two teams that are perennially relevant finally get over the hump? Let's zoom in on the path each team followed to earn a long-awaited return to the Final Four.
ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI
The Illini were the best team in college basketball during the 2004-05 campaign, finishing 29-1 during the regular season and winning the Big Ten tournament to secure the No. 1 overall seed.
Bruce Weber coached a roster of players that Bill Self recruited prior to his departure for the Kansas job, led by the elite guard trio of Dee Brown, Deron Williams and Luther Head. That group made it all the way to the national championship game and stands as one of the most memorable teams in program history.
The Illini made the NCAA tournament five times in the eight years that followed that team's memorable run, but that modest success was followed by a disastrous seven-year drought that stretched into the first three years of the Brad Underwood era.
They finally returned to the NCAA tournament in 2021 as a No. 1 seed, led by All-American Kofi Cockburn and future NBA player Ayo Dosunmu, but they were ousted in the second round by an underseeded Loyola-Chicago team. Three years later, they made it all the way to the Elite Eight, only to get steamrolled by the UConn juggernaut.
Now they're finally back in the Final Four.
With a deep, talented roster that was built through a combination of returning talent (Kylan Boswell, Tomislav Ivisic, Ben Humrichous), stateside recruiting (Keaton Wagler), international talent (David Mirkovic) and the transfer portal (Andrej Stojakovic, Zvonimir Ivisic), they have reached 28 wins for just the fourth time in history.
Wagler has been a revelation all season as a 3-star recruit ranked outside the top 250 players in his class who went on to earn All-American honors, and while it has been a total team effort, he is the engine that drives things.
He had a game-high 25 points while playing 37 minutes in Friday's victory over Iowa, effectively countering Hawkeyes star Bennett Stirtz, who wrapped up a fantastic season with 24 points in 8-of-17 shooting.
With size, athleticism and a high-powered offense that can put up points in a hurry, Illinois is as talented as any team in the country, and a 10-point win over No. 2 seed Houston and its elite defense in the Sweet 16 showed this team is capable of beating anyone
ARIZONA WILDCATS
While the Illinois basketball program has gone through some peaks and valleys over the last 20 years, it's almost impossible to believe it has been 25 years since Arizona advanced this deep into the NCAA tournament.
The 2000-01 team was the last to reach the Final Four, led by future NBA players Gilbert Arenas, Richard Jefferson, Loren Woods and Luke Walton. They actually knocked off a No. 1-seeded Illinois team in the Elite Eight that year, to further intertwine the story of these two teams.
The Wildcats made the NCAA tournament an impressive 15 times in the next 17 years following that Final Four trip, going 0-5 in the Elite Eight during that stretch.
The Sean Miller coaching era came to an end after they missed the NCAA tournament on both ends of the COVID season, but the program has enjoyed a quick return to national relevance under Tommy Lloyd, with five straight March Madness trips.
At a time when the transfer portal reshapes rosters on a yearly basis, the foundation of the 2025-26 Wildcats success has been two players who took a massive step forward after returning from last year's team and two standout freshmen.
Jaden Bradley and Motiejus Krivas were role players on a team led by Caleb Love last season, but Bradley broke through this year to win Big 12 Player of the Year honors, while Krivas upped his production to 10.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game to provide a major inside presence.
They were joined by Brayden Burries (16.2 PPG) and Koa Peat (13.9 PPG) who both made an immediate impact as 5-star recruits in the 2025 class, and the pieces have come together in dominant fashion for a Wildcats team that has lost just twice all season.
Peat had a game-high 20 points on Saturday against Purdue, while Burries added 14 points and four made threes, and Arizona ran its winning streak to 13 games, going back to a mid-February loss to a Texas Tech team that still had a healthy JT Toppin.
This year's team has finally broken the drought, and they have the talent to finish the job.
WHAT'S NEXT
Looking ahead to Sunday's action, Illinois will get the winner of Duke vs. UConn in the East Region, while Arizona faces off against whoever advances from Michigan vs. Tennessee in the Midwest Region.
After tonight's action, Illinois now has the No. 1 offense in KenPom's adjusted efficiency metric, while Arizona has the No. 1 defense, and they are on a collision course for the national championship if they can each pull out one more victory.
The Final Four drought is over. Now it's time to focus on the fact that Illinois has never won a national championship, while Arizona has won it all just once back in 1997 when they took down three No. 1 seeds along the way.
Did we see the 2026 national champion in action on Saturday night?
