Ohio State vs. Illinois Big Ten Tournament History

Here's how the Buckeyes and Illini have fared in their our previous meetings in the Big Ten Tournament.

Brendan Gulick | Mar 13, 2021

Ohio State vs. Illinois Big Ten Tournament History /

Ohio State and Illinois will play in the Big Ten Championship Game on Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis, capping off a remarkable college basketball season in the best conference in the country.

As it turns out, Sunday's contest will be the fifth time the two programs have met in the Big Ten Tournament. They have split the previous meetings, two wins apiece.

Ohio State and Illinois haven't met since the 2010 semifinals, when the Buckeyes won 88-81 in double-overtime. The Buckeyes went on to win the league title that year over Minnesota.

The 2003 Big Ten Championship Game marked the only previous time these two teams have played with a title on the line. Illinois ended Ohio State's remarkable run as the No. 8 seed, and denied the Buckeyes a fourth win in four days with a 72-59 victory. Ohio State will try to accomplish that very same feat on Sunday afternoon.

The teams also played in the 2002 semifinals, during which the Buckeyes beat Illinois 94-88, before going on to beat Iowa in the championship.

The first ever meeting came in 1999 in the second Big Ten Tournament. No. 11-seed Illinois squeaked past No. 2-seed Ohio State 79-77 in the semifinals, but they went on to lose the league title to Michigan State.

Sunday's championship game will tip off at 3:30 from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The game will be televised on CBS.

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Published Mar 13, 2021

BRENDAN GULICK

Brendan Gulick is the publisher for BuckeyesNow, Cleveland Baseball Insider and Cavs Insider on the FanNation Network. He is also an accomplished host and play-by-play voice on TV and radio, including on Big Ten Network and NCAA.com where he's called 45 NCAA national championships. Gulick is an update anchor and fill-in host at 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, Ohio.