Illinois earned an at-large berth in back-to-back NCAA Tournament fields for the first time in 26 years.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 15, 2026

For the first time in 26 years, Illinois will be playing in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments as an at-large selection.

The Illini (21-11) received a No. 7 seed in the Nashville pod with No. 2 seed Vanderbilt as the host inside Memorial Gymnasium. Illinois will play 10-seed Colorado in the first round on Saturday, March 21 with game times to be announced.

The NCAA Tournament selection committee, which was chaired this season by University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee athletics director Amanda Braun, elected to put Illinois on a bus trip to its NCAA Tournament site as the Illini will be playing just 373 miles from State Farm Center. It is the third time in four years under head coach Shauna Green that Illinois has earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament, which means Green’s tenure represents 27 percent of the Illini’s NCAA bids in school history.

The winner of the first-round game between the Illini and the Buffaloes will take on the winner of No. 2-seed Vanderbilt and No. 15-seeded High Point on Monday.

Illinois enters the NCAA Tournament after securing back-to-back seasons with 20 wins or more for just the third time in program history. Illinois is looking to secure an NCAA Tournament win in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 campaigns - a stretch that extended four seasons back through 1996-97.

During the 2025-26 season, Illinois registered three ranked wins, including the first top-10 win of the Shauna Green Era, coming against Maryland, who earned a 5-seed in this NCAA Tournament, on New Year's Day in State Farm Center.

Including her time as the head coach at Dayton, Green has now led seven squads to NCAA Tournament appearances. Dating back to her time at Loras College (D3), Green has led her last 11 teams to winning seasons.

In the Big Ten Tournament, the Fighting Illini battled through the first and second rounds to make an appearance in the quarterfinals for the second time under Green and just the third time since 2011. Illinois won its second go-arounds with Wisconsin (82-70) and Michigan State, which earned a 5-seed in this NCAA Tournament (71-69) before being eliminated by Iowa, who earned a 2-seed in this NCAA Tournament.

Illinois enters the 2026 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament with a 9-10 all-time record in the event. The Illini are making their third appearance in a four-year span for the first time since earning four consecutive bids during the 1996-97 through 1999-2000 campaigns.