State Farm Center will continue to host boys basketball state tourney, format still under discussion

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — The site won’t change. Will the format?

Thursday, the Illinois High School Association Board of Directors announced a five-year contract extension to keep the boys basketball state tournament at State Farm Center on the University of Illinois campus in Champaign-Urbana. The contract runs through the 2028-29 season.

The success of the tournament since the return to Champaign in 2022 and the willingness of the University of Illinois athletic administration to host the event made this an easy decision.

Yet, it was the last line of an 11-paragraph press release that may have been the most interesting part of the decision.

The IHSA announced it will maintain the three-day format necessary to accommodate playing the final four in all four classes the same weekend. However, according to the release, the “daily game and time schedule is being reviewed by the IHSA Basketball Advisory Committee.”

The format is expected to be finalized and approved by the Board of Directors at their June meeting.

Currently, the third-place games are played the same day as the semifinals for Class 1A and 2A on Thursday and Class 3A and 4A on Friday. It sets up a championship Saturday with all four title games played back to back.

However, the format has been under serious scrutiny because of when the third-place games are played and how it impacts the state tournament experience for teams that lose in the semifinals.

No matter how that plays out, holding the state tournament on the campus of the state’s flagship university makes sense.

“The Champaign-Urbana community has come together to provide a first-class experience to all the teams over the past three years, and we know from the overwhelming feedback we’ve received that it has been a positive experience for all who have participated,” University of Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman said. “We are proud to continue our longstanding, strong partnership with the IHSA and are thrilled that the state championships will continue to be played on the biggest stage here at State Farm Center.”