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The Illinois Fighting Illini rank No. 33 on ESPN's list of the top 50 college basketball programs of the last 50 seasons.
ESPN established a scoring system to evaluate college basketball programs over that time period, and the Illini finished ahead of schools like Missouri, Florida and NC State.
Positives: 12 regular-season conference titles; two Final Fours; 25 NCAA tournament appearances; six consensus All-Americans.
Negatives: Lost 22 points due to NCAA sanctions; no conference titles of any kind from 1964-83; have advanced past Sweet 16 just twice since 1990.
The Illini ranked 332nd during the 1970s, but bounced back to finish in the top 20 during the 1980s. After a 99th-place finish in the 1990s, the Illini once again rebounded to crack the top 20 during the 2000s.
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