The Latest Breaking News from Illinois

Yes, T.O. We know Chattanooga is your school.

PITTSBURGH — Watching Illinois go through its dunking drills before Friday’s game against Chattanooga in the first round of the NCAA Tournament was a treat for the early-arriving crowd at PPG Paints Arena.

And if time is running out, the score is close and the ball is looking for a hero to send it spinning toward the rim? “I’ll be ready,” Plummer says.

Forget seeding—this is a list of the teams playing best when it matters most.

The Fighting Illini never had a first-team pick until Ayo Dosunmu made it last season when Cockburn was voted to the second team.

What do we ever really know as we plunge straight into the deep end of another March Madness?

Trent Frazier and Coleman Hawkins wore sunglasses to their news conference Sunday after getting the word Illinois had earned a No. 4 seed in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament, where they’ll take on 13th-seeded Chattanooga in a first-round game at 5:50 p.m. Friday in Pittsburgh (TNT).

PITTSBURGH — March Madness has arrived in Pittsburgh.

Notre Dame also made the field of 68, earning a spot in the First Four.