Saturday, March 28, 2026 is going in the books. Not because of one drought-buster. Because of two. On the same afternoon, Arizona ended 25 years of Final Four exile by dismantling Purdue 79-64, and Illinois ended 21 years of heartbreak by taking apart Iowa 71-59. Two programs with legitimate championship DNA — both off the map for the better part of two decades — walking through the door at the same time. I've been watching this tournament for a long time and I genuinely don't remember anything quite like it.
Let's set the scene before we get into the details. Arizona last made the Final Four in 2001 — Lute Olson's era, Gilbert Arenas, Jason Gardner, a team that came within one game of a title shot [1]. Illinois last made it in 2005 — Bruce Weber's squad with Deron Williams and Dee Brown, a group that went 37-2 and still lost to North Carolina in the title game [2]. Both programs had every reason to think they'd be back quickly. Blue-blood facilities, blue-chip recruiting pipelines, passionate fanbases. Instead: a combined 46 years in the wilderness.
The Arizona Story: 36 Wins and a Freshman Who Didn't Get the Memo
Tommy Lloyd has been building something in Tucson since he arrived in 2021. He inherited the ruins of the Sean Miller era — a program under scholarship restrictions, depleted of goodwill, overshadowed by its own history. Five years later, he's taken Arizona to 36 wins and a program-record season [1]. Thirty-six wins. That number doesn't happen accidentally. It happens when your system is tight, your culture is real, and your roster has bought in completely.
