It Was Always Kentucky

I will now tell you the Illini NCAA history that you don't know. You know Austin Peay in 1987 and you know Loyola in 2021 and you know Arizona in 2005 and you know Syracuse in 1989. You might even know Kentucky in 1984 because it was the game that changed the rules about teams playing NCAA Tournament games on their home floor.

But you probably don't know how it was always Kentucky ruining our dreams. I mean, I only "know" it because I've researched it before. You'd have to be my grandfather's age to truly know it (and my grandfather would have been 107 this year if he hadn't passed away 40 years ago). This is not something that's front-of-mind for Illini fans. But it was always Kentucky.

You probably do know that we've been to five Final Fours. You know this because you quote it when talking to friends who are Missouri fans. It makes their "zero Final Fours" seem so ridiculous. But you don't know much about those first three Final Fours. Which brings me to the first thing I'll write this evening that will make you say "wait, really?"

There wasn't really a Final Four back then.

Before there were 68 teams or 64 teams or even 16 teams, the NCAA Tournament was very simple. Eight teams, all mostly conference champions, playing in two regionals with four teams each. The winners of each regional would then meet at a different site the next weekend to determine the national champion. And there were third place games at both. Each regional would have a third-place game and four teams would go to the finals site for a third-place game and a championship game.