Illinois Fighting Illini

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Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois Fighting Illini athletic logo
University University of Illinois
Conference Big Ten
NCAA Division I
Athletics director Ron Guenther
Location Champaign, IL
Varsity Teams
Stadium Memorial Stadium (Champaign)
Arena Assembly Hall (Champaign)
Mascot Chief Illiniwek (1926-2007)
Nickname Fighting Illini
Fight Song Oskee Wow Wow
Colors Orange and Blue

             
Homepage fightingillini.com

The intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are known as the Fighting Illini. In the world of popular intercollegiate sports, the University's teams are also known as "the Illini" or commonly "Illinois." The University offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of top athletic facilities, including Memorial Stadium for football, the Assembly Hall for men's basketball, and the Atkins Tennis Center for men's and women's tennis.

Contents

The University's Division of Intercollegiate Athletics administers the official athletics teams of the University. All of the University's athletics teams participate in the NCAA's Division I, and form the Big Ten Conference with 10 other primarily midwestern universities. The football team participates in a subdivision within the Division I known as Division I-A.

Baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, gymnastics, tennis, track and field, and wrestling.

Basketball, cheerleading, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.

  • Big Ten Champions: 1900, 1903, 1904, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1911, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1921, 1922, 1927, 1931, 1934, 1937, 1940, 1947, 1948, 1952, 1953, 1962, 1963, 1989, 1990, 1998, 2005

  • National Champions: 1915[1]
  • NCAA Final Four: 1949, 1951, 1952, 1989, 2005
  • Big Ten Champions: 1915, 1917, 1924, 1935, 1937, 1942, 1943, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1963, 1984, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005
  • Big Ten Tournament Champions: 2003, 2005

  • Big Ten Champions: 1997

  • Big Ten Champions: 1921, 1947, 1984

  • National Champions: 1958

  • National Champions: 1914, 1919, 1923, 1927, 1951 [2]
  • Big Ten Champions: 1910, 1914, 1915, 1918, 1919, 1923, 1927, 1928, 1946, 1951, 1953, 1963, 1983, 1990, 2001

  • Big Ten Champions: 1923, 1927, 1930, 1931, 1940, 1941, 1988

  • NCAA National Champions: 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1950, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1989
  • Big Ten Champions: 1911, 1912, 1929, 1935, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1981, 1983, 1988, 1989, 2004

  • Big Ten Champions: 1990

  • Big Ten Championships: 1911, 1912, 1913

  • NCAA National Champions: 2003
  • Big Ten Champions: 1914, 1917, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1946, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
  • Big Ten Tournament Champions: 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005

INDOOR

  • NCAA National Champions: 1921, 1926, 1943, 1945, 1946
  • Big Ten Champions: 1912, 1913, 1914, 1916, 1920, 1921, 1924, 1928, 1946, 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1977, 1981, 1987, 1988, 1989

OUTDOOR

  • NCAA National Champions': 1921, 1927, 1944, 1946, 1947[3]
  • Big Ten Champions: 1907, 1909, 1913, 1914, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1934, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1975, 1977, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1994

INDOOR

  • Big Ten Champions: 1989, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996

OUTDOOR

  • Big Ten Champions: 1988, 1989, 1992, 1995, 2005

  • Big Ten Champions: 1986, 1987, 1988, 1992

  • Big Ten Champions: 1913, 1917, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1935, 1937, 1946, 1947, 1952, 2005


Overall record: (31-5)

Head coach: Lou Henson

Story: Ranked #1 during the regular season. Known for their athletic style. Defeated in the Final Four of the 1989 NCAA Tournament, by the Michigan Wolverines even though they had defeated them twice during the regular season. Michigan went on to win the National Championship.

Overall record (tournaments included): 37-2

Regular season: 29-1

Big Ten Conference play: 15-1

Head coach: Bruce Weber

Starters:

Story: The first Illinois men's basketball team to be ranked number one in the polls since Lou Henson's "Flying Illini" of 1989. Illinois won the Big Ten Tournament and were the overall number one seed in the 2005 NCAA Tournament, eventually losing to the University of North Carolina in the finals, 75-70. This Illinois team tied the NCAA record for most wins in a season with 37 and was undefeated until losing the final game of the regular season at Ohio State by the score of 64-65.

A symbol of the University's athletic teams was, until recently, a Native American figure, Chief Illiniwek, who sparked significant controversy. Critics of the symbol claimed that it was a racist stereotype, while supporters claimed that it was unoffensive and is a source of pride for a majority of students and alumni. Recently, after past Sioux elder, Frank Fools Crow, sold an authentic ceremonial costume and headdress to the university, the Oglala Sioux tribe has demanded the costume and headdress back from U of I (link Sioux City Journal). The University was deeply divided on this issue; while some of the faculty condemned the symbol, the administration remained supportive of it. While some view the Chief as reverence to the Native American heritage of Illinois, others view it as a symbol of oppression to Native Americans that took place in past American history. The University Board of Trustees announced on February 16, 2007 that the Chief's last public performance would be the final home game of the 2006-2007 Men's Basketball season. Lawrence C. Eppley, Chairman of the University Board of Trustees, was responsible for making the decision as to whether or not Chief Illiniwek would remain a school symbol. In the past, the entire board, consisting of 11 voting members, had voted to keep the chief as the Illini symbol. The name "Fighting Illini" was retained, as the NCAA rescinded its criticism of the use of the term. Debate continues over the team name, with the University arguing that it is derived from the name of the state, not necessarily the Native American group of the same name. On a side note, it is a well established fact that a large majority of the student body of the University of Illinois are "Pro Chief" and have been noted to chant "Save the Chief" at U of I sporting events. At the Chief's last performance on Wed., February 21, 2007, students wore black to honor and mourn the chief's final performance.

  1. ^ Although not recognized at the time, the 1915 Men's Basketball Team was retroactively awarded a National Championship by the Helms Athletic Foundation.
  2. ^ http://www.ncaa.org/champadmin/ia_football_past_champs.html
  3. ^ The Illini were voted unofficial National Champions in 1927, since the NCAA did not hold a National Championship competition that year.


Big Ten Conference
Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Michigan • Michigan State • Minnesota • Northwestern • Ohio State • Penn State • Purdue • Wisconsin
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