Illinois Fighting Illini Tickets Information

Illinois Fighting Illini
The Fighting Illini is the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The University offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports.

The University controls a number of athletic services like Memorial Stadium for football, the Assembly Hall for men's basketball, and the Atkins Tennis Center for men's and women's tennis. The Fighting Illini lay claim to over twenty five National Championships dating back to 1900. However since 1958, the Illini have won just two National Championships Men's Tennis in 2003 and Men's Gymnastics in 1989.

Organization
The University's Division of Intercollegiate Athletics oversees the official athletics teams of the University. All of the University's athletics teams participate in the NCAA's Division I, and with 10 other primarily Midwestern universities, form the Big Ten Conference. The football team participates in a subdivision within the Division I known as Division I-A.

Men's Basketball: 1988-1989 season:
Men's Basketball is Ranked #1 during the regular season, known for their athletic style and was defeated in the Final Four of the 1989 NCAA Tournament, by the Michigan Wolverines even though they had defeated them twice during the regular season. Michigan went on to win the National Championship.

Men's Basketball: 2004-2005 season:
The first Illinois men's basketball team was ranked number one in the polls since Lou Henson's "Flying Illini" of 1989. Illinois won the Big Ten Tournament and were the overall number one seed in the 2005 NCAA Tournament, ultimately losing to the University of North Carolina in the finals, 75-70. This Illinois team tied the NCAA record for most wins in a season with 37 and was unbeatable until losing the final game of the regular season at Ohio State by the score of 64-65.

Symbol and controversy
A symbol of the University's athletic teams was the Chief Illiniwek symbol, until recently, a Native American figure, Chief Illiniwek, who sparked significant controversy. Critics of the symbol claimed that it was a racist stereotype, while supporters claimed that it was inoffensive and is a source of pride for a majority of students and alumni. Recently, after past Sioux elder, Frank Fools Crow, sold an authentic ceremonial costume and headdress to the university, the Oglala Sioux tribe has demanded the costume and headdress back from the university .

The University was deeply divided on this issue; the administration remained supportive of it, while some of the faculty condemned the symbol. Some view it as a symbol of oppression to Native Americans that took place in past American history while the others view Chief as reverence to the Native American heritage of Illinois. the Chief's last public performance would be the final home game of the 2006-2007 Men's Basketball season the University Board of Trustees announced in February 2007 that.

Lawrence C. Eppley, Chairman of the University Board of Trustees, was responsible for making the decision as to whether or not Chief Illiniwek would remain a school symbol. In the past, the entire board, consisting of 11 voting members, had voted to keep the chief as the Illini symbol. The name "Fighting Illini" was retained, as the NCAA rescinded its criticism of the use of the term.

Debate continues over the team name, with the University arguing that it is derived from the name of the state, not necessarily the Native American group of the same name. On Wed., February 21, 2007, at the Chief's last performance, students wore black to honor and mourn the chief's final performance.

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