Illinois–Northwestern men's basketball rivalry explained

Wide:yes
Illinois–Northwestern men's basketball rivalry
Team1:Illinois Fighting Illini
Team1logo:Illinois Fighting Illini logo.svg
Team2:Northwestern Wildcats
Team2logo:Northwestern Wildcats logo.svg
Sport:College basketball
Firstmeeting:March 7, 1908
Illinois 18 – Northwestern 13
Mostrecent:January 24, 2024
Northwestern 96 – Illinois 91
Nextmeeting:December 6, 2024
Evanston, Illinois
Total:188
Series:Illinois leads, 143–45
Largestvictory:Illinois, 42, twice
(86-44), 1943 at NU
(99-57), 1995 at IL
Longeststreak:Illinois, 16 twice
(1947-1955 & 1984-1991)
Currentstreak:Northwestern, 1 (2024–present)
Stadiums:State Farm Center,
Welsh–Ryan Arena

The Illinois–Northwestern men's basketball rivalry is an intra-Big Ten Conference, college sports rivalry between the Illinois Fighting Illini and Northwestern Wildcats. Multiple factors have played into the creation of the games between the two schools; Illinois and Northwestern are both located within the state of Illinois and are located about 157miles apart, and they share recruiting ground.

History

See main article: Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball and Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball. Illinois and Northwestern first met on March 7, 1908, with an Illinois victory, 18–13. The teams would continue to compete annually with the exception of 12 seasons. Since the two teams are both in the Big Ten Conference, they meet at least once per season. The location of the game alternates between State Farm Center, formerly Assembly Hall, in Champaign, and in Evanston at Welsh–Ryan Arena. There have only been a total of five neutral site games in this series with Illinois winning all of those games. Illinois leads the series 137–43.[1] [2]

Occasional feuds and incidents between the schools' programs have fueled the competition over the years. Illinois has the advantage in the history of the Big Ten tournament. Of the 20+ years the conference tournament has been held, Illinois and Northwestern have played a total of 3 times. Illinois holds the record of 3–0 over Northwestern.[3]

Accomplishments by the two rivals

The following summarizes the accomplishments of the two programs.

Team Illinois Northwestern
National titles[4] [5] style=00
Final Four appearances[6] [7] style=50
style=332
NCAA Tournament record style=42-342-2
Big Ten tournament titles[8] style=40
Big Ten regular season titles[9] style=182
Consensus First Team All-Americans[10] style=164
Naismith Players of the Year[11] style=00
Big Ten Players of the Year[12] style=30
Big Ten Medal of Honor Recipients[13] style=1917
All-time program record style=1876-10541142-1585-1
All-time winning percentage

Game results

Winning team is shown. Ranking of the team at the time of the game by the AP poll is shown by the team name.[16] [17]

Series statistics

Notes and References

  1. https://www.news-gazette.com/sports/illini-sports/mens-basketball/recent-history-in-rivalry-has-gone-in-illinis-favor/article_170cc0cd-6813-5074-9a95-8be93ae4178c.html News-Gazette.com
  2. https://www.btpowerhouse.com/2014/7/29/5942027/ncaa-big-ten-basketball-rivalries-northwestern-vs-illinois-update BTPowerhouse.com
  3. https://s3.amazonaws.com/bigten.org/documents/2019/9/26/2019_20_Media_Guide_FINAL.pdf 2019-20 Big Ten Media Guide
  4. Web site: Illinois Fighting Illini Men's Basketball School History. Sports-Reference.com. February 23, 2023.
  5. Web site: Northwestern Wildcats Men's Basketball School History. February 24, 2023.
  6. Web site: Illinois Fighting Illini Index. College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  7. Web site: Northwestern Wildcats Index. College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  8. Web site: Big Ten tournament All-Time Results . https://web.archive.org/web/20221230202641/https://bigten.org/documents/2022/11/17/22_23_Men_s_Basketball_Media_Guide.pdf . dead . December 30, 2022 . BigTen.org . Big Ten Conference . February 23, 2023 .
  9. Web site: Big Ten Conference Sports References. Sports-Reference.com. February 23, 2023.
  10. Web site: NCAA College Basketball AP All-America Teams. Basketball-Reference.com. February 23, 2023.
  11. Web site: Naismith Award Records . NaismithTrophy.com . February 23, 2023.
  12. Web site: Big Ten Player of the Year . https://web.archive.org/web/20221230202641/https://bigten.org/documents/2022/11/17/22_23_Men_s_Basketball_Media_Guide.pdf . dead . December 30, 2022 . BigTen.org . Big Ten Conference . February 23, 2023 .
  13. Web site: Big Ten Medal of Honor. https://web.archive.org/web/20221230202641/https://bigten.org/documents/2022/11/17/22_23_Men_s_Basketball_Media_Guide.pdf . dead . December 30, 2022 . BigTen.org . Big Ten Conference . February 23, 2023 .
  14. Web site: Illinois Fighting Illini Index. 2023-02-23. College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. en.
  15. Web site: Northwestern Wildcats Index. 2023-02-22. College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. en.
  16. https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/opponent-history/northwestern-university/46 FightingIllini.com
  17. https://nusports.com/sports/mens-basketball/opponent-history/university-of-illinois/46 NUSports.com
  18. https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/northwestern/head-to-head.html Sports-Reference.com

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