The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic facilities, including Memorial Stadium for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, the

State Farm Center The State Farm Center is a large dome-shaped 15,544-seat indoor arena located in Champaign, Illinois, owned and operated by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The arena hosts games for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball, ...

for both men's and women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

Illinois Field Illinois Field is a baseball venue in Champaign, Illinois, home to the University of Illinois Fighting Illini baseball team. It is located in the sports complex at the University of Illinois near the Champaign-Urbana border. It is a short distan ...

for

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, the ARC Pool for women's

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

and

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

, the

Atkins Tennis Center Opened in 1991 at a cost of $5.3 million, the Atkins Tennis Center is home to both men and women's tennis at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois ...

for men's and women's

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, Eichelberger Field for

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

Huff Hall Huff Hall is a 4,050-seat multi-purpose arena in Champaign, Illinois, United States. The arena opened in 1925 and was known as Huff Gymnasium until the 1990s. It is named after George Huff (baseball), George Huff, who was the school's athletic dir ...

for men's and women's

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

, women's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and men's

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

, Demirjian Park for women's

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and for men's and women's outdoor

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, the

Atkins Golf Club at the University of Illinois Atkins may refer to: Places in the United States * Atkins, Arkansas, a city * Atkins, Iowa, a city * Atkins, Louisiana, an unincorporated community * Atkins, Nebraska, an unincorporated community * Atkins, Virginia, a census-designated place * Atki ...

for men's and women's

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, the University of Illinois Arboretum for cross country and the University of Illinois Armory for men's and women's indoor

. The Fighting Illini lay claim to over 25 National Championships dating back to 1900.

Etymology

The University of Illinois official team name is the Fighting Illini. The Illiniwek, Illinois Confederation, or Illini, were made up of 12 to 13 tribes who lived in the Mississippi River Valley. The term 'Illini', in relation to campus activities, appears to be first mentioned in January 1874, when the weekly newspaper changed its name from The Student to The Illini. An editorial in the first edition of the renamed newspaper indicated that Illini was a new term. During the late 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, it was used to refer to the students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the University, as well as to the campus as a whole. Many NCAA and High School mascots bearing reference to first nation people have changed their names, however, the University of Illinois maintains its position that the Illini nickname does not refer to the first nation inhabitants of the same land. The term Illini referring to the university's athletic teams seems to come from secondhand accounts of the athletic teams. The earliest reference in the Illio yearbook appears to be one mention in the summary of the 1907 football season. The term was more widely used in the 1910s especially during the 1914, 1915, and 1916 football seasons. ''

The Daily Illini ''The Daily Illini'', commonly known as the ''DI'', is a student-run newspaper that has been published for the community of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since 1871. Weekday circulation during fall and spring semesters is 7,000; co ...

'' and football programs prior to these dates do not extensively cite the term and also used the terms "Indians," "our men," "Orange and Blue," and the "homecomers". The

Illinois Confederation The Illinois Confederation, also referred to as the Illiniwek or Illini, were made up of 12 to 13 tribes who lived in the Mississippi River Valley. Eventually member tribes occupied an area reaching from Lake Michicigao (Michigan) to Iowa, Illi ...

, also referred to as the Illiniwek or Illini, lived in the Mississippi River Valley and expanded their tribes in an area that stretched from Lake Michigan to Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas. The term Fighting Illini first appeared in a January 29, 1911 newspaper article describing the basketball team's effort during a game versus Purdue. By March 3, 1911, the athletic teams appeared to have earned the Fighting Illini nickname as a formal appellation evidenced in a newspaper report. In 2005, evidence suggested Fighting Illini was first used in 1921 as part of a fundraising campaign for construction of Memorial Stadium, but articles discovered in 2013 show it was first used in 1911. The Fighting Illini nickname was adopted by general consensus as an unofficial school nickname sometime between 1921–1930. It was then used in newspaper articles, football programs and other publications eventually becoming the official name.

Sports sponsored

Illinois has won 18 overall men's and women's NCAA team national championships through the 2017 NCAA athletic season. Illinois ranks thirty-sixth all-time in total NCAA Division I national championships through the 2020–21 NCAA athletic season.

Baseball

Fighting Illini baseball has 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, 33 Big Ten championships and 4 Big Ten Tournament championships in 1989, 1990, 2000 and 2011.

Basketball

Men's basketball

Fighting Illini men's basketball titles include the 1915

Helms Helms is an English surname, English and Danish language, Danish Patronymic surname, Patronymic Surname and means son of Helm (given name), Helm, which derives from the Old Norse name ''Hjelm'' or ''Hjälm'' meaning 'helmet'. The name may als ...

national championship, 5 NCAA Final Four appearances in 1949, 1951, 1952, 1989, 2005, 17 Big Ten championships and 3 Big Ten Tournament championships in 2003, 2005, and 2021. Through the end of the 2013–14 season, Illinois ranks 11th all-time in

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

and 14th all-time in wins among all NCAA Division I men's college basketball programs. Bristow Adams, University of Illinois football player, 1902

Women's basketball

Fighting Illini women's basketball began play in 1974. The team won the 1997 Big Ten championship. They have made 8 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 2 Sweet Sixteen appearances in 1997 and 1998.

Cross country

Men's cross country

The men's cross country team were the Big Ten Champions in 1921, 1947 and 1984.

Women's cross country

The Fighting Illini women's cross country team began play in 1977. Illinois won an individual NCAA championship in 2009.

Football

The University of Illinois has been selected for national championship titles for their accomplishments in five seasons (1914, 1919, 1923, 1927, 1951) by NCAA-designated major selectors, often using mathematical algorithms. Illinois claims championships for all five years. The Fighting Illini program recognizes the 1951 national title selection by William F. Boand, but as recently as 2006 this was not mentioned officially by the school. The team also has 15 Big Ten Championship Football victories with 8 Bowl Game Victories at the

1947 Rose Bowl The 1947 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game. It was the 33rd Rose Bowl Game. The Illinois Fighting Illini defeated the UCLA Bruins, 45–14. Illinois halfbacks Buddy Young and Jules Rykovich shared the Rose Bowl Player Of The Game awa ...

1952 Rose Bowl The 1952 Rose Bowl was the 38th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Held on Tuesday, January 1, at the end of the 1951 college football season, it was the first nationally televised col ...

, 1964 Rose Bowl, 1990 Florida Citrus Bowl, 1994 Liberty Bowl, 1999 MicronPC.com Bowl,

2010 Texas Bowl The 2010 Texas Bowl was the fifth edition of the college football bowl game, and was played at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The game started at 5:00 PM US CST on Wednesday, December 29, 2010. The game was telecast on ESPN for the second tim ...

, and 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.

Golf

Men's golf

The men's golf team play their home matches on the

five miles from the university's campus, and are currently led by head coach Mike Small. The Fighting Illini men's golf program has won 18 Big Ten championships and in 2013 finished as national runner-up at the

NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships The NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship, played in late May or early June, is the top annual competition in U.S. men's collegiate golf. The teams that win their respective Division I conference championships are given automatic spots in th ...

, which was the highest finish in the program's history. 2014 was the third time in the past four years the program had qualified for the

match play Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...

portion of the NCAA Men's Golf Championships in which the final eight teams compete in a bracket format.

Women's golf

The Fighting Illini women's golf team began play in 1975. The team has made four NCAA Tournament appearances in 2002, 2003, 2011 and 2012.

Gymnastics

Men's gymnastics

The men's

team have been invited to 44 NCAA tournaments and have won 10 team NCAA championships, which is second most all-time only to

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interco ...

12 team titles. Additionally, the Fighting Illini have won an all-time record 53 individual NCAA titles. The Illini hold their competitions at George Huff Hall on the

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

side of campus, and the team trains and holds practices at the

Kenney Gym The Kenney Gym and the Kenney Gym Annex are two buildings located at 1402-06 Springfield Avenue in Urbana, Illinois, on the campus on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Although the two buildings have been physically connected since ...

on the

Urbana __NOTOC__ Urbana can refer to: Places Italy *Urbana, Italy United States *Urbana, Illinois **Urbana (conference), a Christian conference formerly held in Urbana, Illinois *Urbana, Indiana * Urbana, Iowa *Urbana, Kansas * Urbana, Maryland *Urbana, ...

side of campus.

Women's gymnastics

The Fighting Illini women's gymnastics team began play in 1974. The team won three Big Ten Championships in 1990, 1991 and 1992.

Soccer

The Fighting Illini women's soccer team began play in 1997. The team won two Big Ten Championships in 2003 and 2011. They have made twelve NCAA Tournaments appearances in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. The team has four sweet sixteen appearances in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2013 and one elite eight appearance in 2004.

Softball

The Fighting Illini softball team began play in 2000. The team has made seven NCAA Tournament appearances in 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017 and 2019. The current head coach is Tyra Perry.

Swimming and diving

The Fighting Illini women's swimming and diving team began play in 1974. The team had individual NCAA champions in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Tennis

Men's tennis

The Illinois men's tennis program was founded in 1908, but has enjoyed most of its success in recent years. The Illini have been one of the most successful men's tennis programs in the nation over the past twenty seasons, winning nine consecutive Big Ten Championships from 1997–2005; six of seven Big Ten Tournament Championships between 1999 and 2005; appearing in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen fourteen times, including eight years in a row (2002–09); advancing to three NCAA Final Fours between 2003 and 2007; and winning the 2003 NCAA National Championship. They have also won two ITA National Team Indoor Championships (2003, 2004) and lost in the championship match three other times (1998, 1999, 2002). Illinois men's tennis owns the record for longest consecutive win streak in NCAA history at 64 matches, spanning from their first match of the 2002–03 season and ending with a 4–2 defeat by

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

in the semifinals of the 2004 NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament.

Women's tennis

The Fighting Illini women's tennis team began play in 1975. The women's tennis team has made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances in 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2018 and 2019.

Track and field

Men's track and field

The men's Indoor Track and Field team has a total of 20 Big Ten Champion titles. For outdoor track and field the team has NCAA National Champions in 1921, 1927,The Illini were unofficial NCAA National Champions in 1927, as the NCAA did not officially score a team national championship at the competition that year. 1944, 1946, and 1947. In addition, the team carries a total of 29 Big Ten Championships. *Indoor Track and Field Big Ten Champions: 1912, 1913, 1914, 1916, 1920, 1921, 1924, 1928, 1946, 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1977, 1981, 1987, 1988, 1989 *Outdoor Track and Field Big Ten Champions: 1907, 1909, 1913, 1914, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1934, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1975, 1977, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1994, 2015

Women's track and field

The Fighting Illini women's track and field team began play in 1976. The indoor track and field team won five Big Ten Championships in 1989, 1992, 1993, 1995 and 1996. The outdoor track and field team won the 1970

Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

and six Big Ten Championships in 1988, 1989, 1992, 1995, 2005 and 2007.

Volleyball

Women's volleyball started in 1974., Since moving into

from the

in 1990, the Illinois Volleyball team has remained in the top 10 in the nation for average home attendance. In 2013, the program broke its previous home attendance record, averaging 3,117 per match.

served as the initial home court from 1974 through the 1989 season. Since the founding of the volleyball program in 1974, the Fighting Illini have had 30+ winning seasons.

Wrestling

The current head coach of the University of Illinois Fighting Illini is Mike Poeta, who was a two-time NCAA finalist for Illinois. He replaced Jim Heffernan, who retired in 2021.

is the current home arena for the wrestling team, seating approximately 4,500. * ''Big Ten Champions'': 1913, 1917, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1935, 1937, 1946, 1947, 1952, 2005 * The University of Illinois has had 24 NCAA National Champion wrestlers, with the most recent being Jesse Delgado in 2013 and 2014 and

Isaiah Martinez Isaiah Alexander Martinez (born September 2, 1994) is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 79 kilograms. In freestyle, Martinez is a two-time US Open National champion (three-time finalist) and was th ...

in 2015 and 2016.

Illinois Fighting Illini varsity sports timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:25 Period = from:1867 till:2015 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:skyblue from:1879 till:1881 text:Baseball (1879–1881, 1883–present) bar:1 color:white from:1882 till:1883 text: bar:1 color:skyblue from:1883 till:end text: bar:2 color:skyblue from:1890 till:end text:Football (1890–present) bar:3 color:skyblue from:1890 till:end text:Men's tennis (1890–present) bar:4 color:skyblue from:1901 till:end text:Men's track & field (1901–present) bar:5 color:skyblue from:1905 till:end text:Men's basketball (1905–present) bar:6 color:skyblue from:1905 till:end text:Men's gymnastics (1905–present) bar:7 color:skyblue from:1905 till:1993 text:Men's swimming & diving (1905–1993) bar:8 color:skyblue from:1905 till:1940 text:Men's water polo (1905–1940) bar:9 color:skyblue from:1908 till:end text:Men's golf (1908–present) bar:10 color:skyblue from:1910 till:1917 text:Wrestling (1910–1917, 1919–present) bar:10 color:white from:1917 till:1919 text: bar:10 color:skyblue from:1919 till:end text: bar:11 color:skyblue from:1910 till:1910 text:Men's soccer (1910, 1927–1935) bar:11 color:white from:1910 till:1927 text: bar:11 color:skyblue from:1927 till:1935 text: bar:12 color:skyblue from:1911 till:1993 text:Men's fencing (1911–1993) bar:13 color:skyblue from:1912 till:end text:Men's cross country (1911–present) bar:14 color:skyblue from:1932 till:1941 text:Men's polo (1932–1941) bar:14 color:white from:1941 till:1955 text: bar:15 color:skyblue from:1937 till:1943 text:Men's hockey (1937–1943) bar:15 color:white from:1941 till:1955 text: bar:16 color:skyblue from:1974 till:end text:Women's basketball (1974–present) bar:17 color:skyblue from:1974 till:end text:Women's gymnastics (1974–present) bar:18 color:skyblue from:1974 till:end text:Women's swimming & diving (1974–present) bar:19 color:skyblue from:1974 till:end text:Women's volleyball (1974–present) bar:20 color:skyblue from:1975 till:end text:Women's golf (1975–present) bar:21 color:skyblue from:1975 till:end text:Women's tennis (1975–present) bar:22 color:skyblue from:1976 till:end text:Women's track & field (1976–present) bar:23 color:skyblue from:1977 till:end text:Women's cross country (1977–present) bar:24 color:skyblue from:1997 till:end text:Women's soccer (97–pres.) bar:25 color:skyblue from:2000 till:end text:Softball (2000–present) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 start:1879 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(175,30) # tabs:(0-center) text:"Illinois Fighting Illini varsity sports timeline" References: Men's basketball, Men's fencing, Men's hockey, Men's polo, Men's soccer, Men's water polo

Former varsity sports

Illinois fencing won National Championships in 1956 and 1958. Fencing was dropped as a varsity sport in 1993. Men's swimming and diving was dropped as a varsity sport in 1993, but were Big Ten Champions in 1911, 1912 and 1913.

Club sports

Club sports include men's ice hockey, women's ice hockey, men's lacrosse,

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

, men's and women's rugby, tennis, men's volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's ultimate frisbee, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's track and field, and men's and women's boxing.

Boxing

Both the men's and women's boxing teams compete as part of the

United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association The United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association (USIBA) is a nonprofit amateur collegiate boxing league founded in 2012 and formed, in part, to address perceived safety and fairness issues present in the National Collegiate Boxing Association ...

. Illinois hosted the USIBA national championships in 2018, and the men's team won the 2018 and 2019 tournaments. The women's team won the 2022 tournament.

Ice hockey

The men's ice hockey team has played in the Division I

Central States Collegiate Hockey League The Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL) is Division I ACHA level hockey-college athletic conference. The CSCHL is in its 51st season of existence and is one of the top ranked ACHA leagues. It currently has 4 member teams in the Midwe ...

conference since 1979, which is part of the

American Collegiate Hockey Association The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) is a college ice hockey association. The ACHA's purpose is to be an organization of collegiate affiliated non-varsity programs, which provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes qualit ...

(ACHA), winning national championships in 2005 and 2008, with runner-up finishes in 2009 and 2018. A second team competes in the Division II

Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association The Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association (MACHA) is an ACHA club hockey league comprising colleges and universities in the Midwest. Organizational structure The MACHA is made up of three divisions, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. The Gold Di ...

. A feasibility study published in March 2018, and commissioned by the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

, NHLPA, and College Hockey, Inc., found a high probability of success for the hockey program to transition to

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

Men's rugby

Founded in 1963, the University of Illinois Men's Rugby Football Club plays in Division 1-A in the

Big Ten Universities Big Ten Universities is a Division 1-A Rugby, Division 1-A college rugby conference founded in summer 2012 by ten of the twelve schools that then made up the Big Ten Conference (which has since 2010–13 Big Ten Conference realignment#Maryland, ex ...

conference. The Illini have experienced success in

college rugby College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States of America. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the ...

, including winning several Big 10 championships in the 1980s and reaching the national semifinals in 1980, 1983 and 1985. The Illini play their home matches in Urbana at the Complex Fields.

Wheelchair basketball

The men's wheelchair basketball team was founded in 1948 by Dr. Timothy Nugent in response to a large number of disabled veterans using the

G.I. Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

to attend the University of Illinois. Dr. Nugent later started a women's team in 1970. A total of 29 national championships are claimed between the men and women's teams.

Rowing

Founded in 2005, Illini Rowing is one of the youngest university rowing teams in the country. They practice on Clinton Lake and in the

ARC ARC may refer to: Business * Aircraft Radio Corporation, a major avionics manufacturer from the 1920s to the '50s * Airlines Reporting Corporation, an airline-owned company that provides ticket distribution, reporting, and settlement services * ...

. On Clinton Lake, they host the Illinois Collegiate Rowing Invitational where they race against many other midwestern universities. They compete across the country in the

American Collegiate Rowing Association American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) is one of the governing bodies of college rowing in the United States, together with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA). History Estab ...

Athletic facilities

Current facilities

* Activities and Recreation Center (ARC Pool) — Women's swimming and diving *

— Men's and women's tennis * Eichelberger Field — Softball *

— Men's and women's gymnastics, women's volleyball, wrestling *

— Baseball * Demirjian Park — Women's soccer, Men's and women's outdoor track and field * Memorial Stadium — Football *

(formerly Assembly Hall) — Men's and women's basketball *

— Men's and women's golf * University of Illinois Arboretum — Men's and women's cross country * University of Illinois Armory — Men's and women's indoor track and field

Practice facilities

*Demirjian Golf Practice Facility — Men's and women's golf indoor practice facility *Irwin Indoor Practice Facility — Football, women's soccer, baseball, softball *

Kenney Gym and Kenney Gym Annex The Kenney Gym and the Kenney Gym Annex are two buildings located at 1402-06 Springfield Avenue in Urbana, Illinois, on the campus on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Although the two buildings have been physically connected since ...

— Men's and women's gymnastics *Lauritsen/Wohlers Outdoor Golf Practice Facility — Men's and women's golf outdoor practice facility *U of I Orange and Blue Golf Courses — Men's and women's golf short-game practice center

Former facilities

— Men's basketball (1925–1963) * Original Illinois Field — Baseball (1884–1987) and football (1893–1922) *

— Men's basketball (1905–1925)

Club and intramural facilities

* Activities and Recreation Center — Intramural sports * Complex Fields — Intramural sports *

CRCE The Communist, Republican, Citizen and Ecologist group (french: groupe communiste, républicain, citoyen et ecologiste) is a parliamentary group in the French Senate, the indirectly elected upper house of the French Parliament. Unlike most other p ...

— Intramural sports * University of Illinois Ice Arena — Men's and women's club hockey, Synchronized skating

Illinois traditions

Marching Illini

The Marching Illini is the

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ofte ...

of the university. The Marching Illini is an organization which annually includes approximately 350 students. Part of the College of Fine and Applied Arts and the School of Music, the Marching Illini represent virtually every college, discipline, and major on the University's diverse Urbana-Champaign campus. The band primarily performs before, during, and after University of Illinois home football games. The band also performs an indoor concert at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts featuring special lighting effects, performances by individual sections, and slightly pithy comic routines. The

Sousa Archives and Center for American Music The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music (SACAM) documents American music through historical artifacts and archival records in multiple formats. The center is part of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign's library system an ...

houses a collection of University Band recordings and performances and recording sessions from 1940–1987. The band has several traditions such as the Pregame Show, Three-In-One,

Illinois Loyalty "Illinois Loyalty", also known as "We're Loyal to You, Illinois" or just "Loyalty", is a song associated with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. It (along with "Hail to the Orange") is the school's alma mater. It is also used (althoug ...

and

Oskee Wow-Wow Oskee Wow-Wow (along with "Illinois Loyalty") is the official fight song of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The song was written in 1910 by two students: Harold Vater Hill '11 (1889–1917), credited with the music, and Howard Rug ...

Illinois Loyalty

Illinois Loyalty is the main school song of the university. It was first performed on March 3, 1906 and is one of the oldest songs of its kind in the United States. The song was written by Thacher Howland Guild (1879-1914), instructor in rhetoric and a member of the band's solo cornet section. Due to the song's length, it is normally played only at the beginning, halftime, and end of football games.

Oskee Wow-Wow

Oskee Wow-Wow is the official fight song of the University of Illinois. Most commonly, it is played "from the hold" at the start of the chorus, when the "O" in "Oskee Wow-Wow" is held out. This version is played after first downs and touchdowns in

, and leading into time outs in

. Coincidentally, the buzzers at nearly every arena are in the same chord as the hold. For many years, the band started playing the song "from the top" toward the end of the warmup period in basketball. When conducted correctly, the "hold" is played just as the buzzer sounds.

Oskee Wow-Wow yell

The Oskee Wow-Wow yell is a University of Illinois spirit yell originated in 1899. The yell was modified in 1912 and 1916.

Athletic directors

* Edward K. Hall (1892–1894) * Fred D. Dodge (1894–1895) * Henry H. Everett (1895–1898) * Jacob K. Shell (1898–1901) * George Huff (1901–1936) * Wendell S. Wilson (1936–1941) *

Douglas R. Mills Douglas Raymond "Gaga" Mills (April 9, 1907 – August 12, 1993), a native of Elgin, Illinois, was a high school and college basketball player and coach in the state of Illinois. During high school, Mills was the first player in the state to lead ...

(1941–1966) * Leslie Bryan (1966–1967) *

Gene Vance Ellis Eugene Vance (February 25, 1923 – February 16, 2012) was an American professional basketball player. He played in the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Chicago Stags and Tri-Cities ...

(1967–1972) * Charles E. Flynn (1972) * Cecil Coleman (1972–1979) *

Ray Eliot Raymond Eliot "Butch" Nusspickel (June 13, 1905 – February 24, 1980) was an American football and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Illinois College from 1934 to 1936 and at th ...

(1979) * Neale Stoner (1980–1988) *

Ron Guenther Ronald E. Guenther (born October 3, 1945) is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois from 1975 to 1978, compiling a recor ...

(1988) * Karol A. Kahrs (1988) *

John Mackovic John Mackovic (born October 1, 1943) is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach of the Italy national American football team, which was formed to compete in the EFAF European Championship. Previously, Mackovic served as the ...

(1988–1991) * Robert Todd (1991–1992) *

(1992–2011) * Mike Thomas (2011–2015) * Paul Kowalczyk (2015) *

Josh Whitman Josh Whitman (born August 5, 1978) is a university administrator, a lawyer, and a former American football player. He is currently the athletic director at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Whitman served as the athletic director ...

(2016–present)

Notable alumni

The University has a number of notable alumni and administrators in the world of athletics. In football, notable Alumni include

Dick Butkus Richard Marvin Butkus (born December 9, 1942) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, and actor. He played football as a middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) from 1965 to ...

Red Grange Harold Edward "Red" Grange (June 13, 1903 – January 28, 1991), nicknamed "the Galloping Ghost" and "the Wheaton Iceman", was an American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and the short-lived New York Yankees ...

Jeff George Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * ...

Simeon Rice Simeon James Rice (; born February 24, 1974) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals third overall in the 1996 NFL Draft. In his 12-year NFL career, Rice recorded 122 sacks, forced 25 fumbles, recov ...

Ray Nitschke Raymond Ernest Nitschke (December 29, 1936 – March 8, 1998) was a professional American football middle linebacker who spent his entire 15-year National Football League (NFL) career with the in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in , he was the a ...

and

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (; February 2, 1895October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was an American professional football player, coach, and team owner. He was the founder and owner of the National Football League's Chic ...

. Famous basketball alumni include Dee Brown,

Deron Williams Deron Michael Williams ( ; born June 26, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted third overall in the 2005 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz. A thre ...

Luther Head Luther Dale Head (born November 26, 1982) is a former American professional basketball player. High school Head attended Chicago's Manley Academy where he averaged over 20 points, eight assists and seven rebounds per game as a junior. Those n ...

Derek Harper Derek Ricardo Harper (born October 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. A second-team All-American at the University of Illinois, he was the 11th overall pick of the 1983 NBA draft and spent 16 seasons as a point guar ...

, Nick Anderson,

Chuck Carney Charles Roslyn Carney (August 25, 1900 – September 5, 1984) was an American football and basketball player. Carney was born in Chicago in 1900. He enrolled at the University of Illinois where he excelled in both football and basketball. H ...

, Brian Cook,

Kendall Gill Kendall Cedric Gill (born May 25, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who now works as a television basketball analyst. Early life Gill was born in Chicago and attended Rich Central High School in Olympia Fields, Illinois. ...

, Steve Bardo,

Jerry Colangelo Jerry Colangelo (born November 20, 1939) is an American businessman and sports executive. He formerly owned the Phoenix Suns of the NBA, the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, the Arizona Sandsharks of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, the Arizona ...

, and Johnny Orr. Notable athletes in baseball include

Lou Boudreau Louis Boudreau (July 17, 1917 – August 10, 2001), nicknamed "Old Shufflefoot", "Handsome Lou", and "The Good Kid", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 15 seasons, primarily as a ...

Hoot Evers Walter Arthur "Hoot" Evers (February 8, 1921 – January 25, 1991) was an American baseball outfielder, scout, coach, and executive. Evers played professional baseball from 1941 to 1942 and 1946 to 1956, including 12 seasons in Major League Bas ...

and

Ken Holtzman Kenneth Dale Holtzman (born November 3, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from through , most notably as a member of the Chicago Cubs for whom he pitche ...

. The University has also a number of Olympic athletes that include George Kerr,

Don Laz Donald Robert Laz (May 17, 1929 – February 21, 1996) was an American pole vaulter. He won a silver medal at the 1952 Olympics and a bronze at the 1955 Pan American Games. Domestically he held the NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic As ...

Daniel Kinsey Daniel Chapin Kinsey (January 22, 1902 – June 27, 1970) was an American hurdler and a scholar in physical education. Born in St. Louis, Kinsey attended the University of Illinois, studying education. He won the gold medal in the 110-Metre ...

Harold Osborn Harold Marion Osborn D.O. (April 13, 1899 – April 5, 1975) was an American track athlete. He won a gold medal in Olympic decathlon and high jump in 1924 and was the first athlete to win a gold medal in both the decathlon and an individual ev ...

Bob Richards Robert Eugene Richards (born February 20, 1926) is an American retired athlete, minister, and politician. He made three U.S. Olympic Teams in two events: the 1948, 1952, and 1956 Summer Olympics as a pole vaulter and as a decathlete in 1956. ...

, and

Justin Spring Justin Edward Spring (born March 11, 1984) is a retired American gymnast. He is a member of the bronze medal winning U.S. team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He was also a top gymnast in NCAA competition, where he represented the University ...

Mascot controversy

From 1926 to 2007,

Chief Illiniwek Chief Illiniwek was the mascot of the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign (UIUC), associated with the university's intercollegiate athletic programs, from October 30, 1926, to February 21, 2007. Chief Illiniwek was portrayed by a student t ...

was the symbol for the Fighting Illini. Chief Illiniwek was a Native American symbol portrayed by a white student. Chief Illiniwek symbolized the Illini, a confederation of indigenous tribes who historically had inhabited much of present-day Illinois; however the clothing and regalia for the symbol was from the

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...

nation. Chief Illiniwek would perform during halftime at Illinois football and basketball games, wearing a feathered headdress and buckskin clothes, and dancing while the

played "Three in One", an arrangement of three original songs. It was customary for Illinois fans and attendees to raise their arms at the end of the halftime proceedings and, in unison, yell 'chief.' In 2005, the Chief was one of 18 mascots (though Illiniwek was considered a symbol and not a mascot) cited as "hostile or abusive" by the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

in a

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

that banned schools from full participation in postseason activities as long as they continued to use such mascots. The University of Illinois retired Chief Illiniwek in 2007. Debate about the Chief has continued to this day. The university chancellor appointed a Commission on Native Imagery to recommend ways "to provide closure, healing and reconciliation... to facilitate the establishment of new traditions... ndto honor and partner with the Native Nations for whom Illinois is their ancestral home." The Fighting Illini are one of three

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

programs that do not have a mascot. (The other two are the

Wolverines The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...

and the Hoosiers.) In the 2020 student elections, the student body voted 4222 to 3597 for a preliminary proposal to adopt a new mascot, the

belted kingfisher The belted kingfisher (''Megaceryle alcyon'') is a large, conspicuous water kingfisher, native to North America. All kingfishers were formerly placed in one family, Alcedinidae, but recent research suggests that this should be divided into three ...

. The female belted kingfisher, who is "naturally true to the orange and blue", would be the first female mascot in the Big Ten. The referendum was downplayed by the university administration who said that the "results will be shared with the university administration and the board of trustees but will not result in a new mascot at this time."

References

External links

* {{Illinois Sports 1879 establishments in Illinois Sports clubs established in 1879