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March Madness is back. On selection Sunday, Illinois was slotted as the 9- seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament.

The Illini will take on 8-seed Arkansas on Thursday at Well Fargo Arena in De Moines, Iowa. Tipoff is set for 3:30 pm CT.

The Fighting Illini finished the regular season with a 20-11 record (11-9 B1G) before falling to Penn State in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Now in his sixth season as the head coach, Brad Underwood has now led Illinois to NCAA Tournament appearances in the last three seasons.

The Illini were a lock for the Big Dance in 2019-20 before the tournament was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Arkansas' draw makes it the first time since 2008 that it has earned three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. The Razorbacks advanced to the Elite Eight in each of the last two seasons

The Razorbacks (20-13) lost its last three regular season games, then went 1-1 in the SEC Tournament.

Arkansas is 0-5 all-time against Illinois, with the last meeting resulting in a 72-60 loss on Dec. 4, 2004. The Razorbacks and Illini have never played in the postseason.

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