The Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, also known as Champaign–Urbana and Urbana–Champaign as well as Chambana (colloquially), is a metropolitan area in east-central Illinois. As defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the metropolitan area has a population of 222,538 as of the 2020 U.S. Census, which ranks it as the 207th largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. The area is anchored by the principal cities of Champaign and Urbana, and is home to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system.
The Illinois Fighting Illini are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports.
The State Farm Center is a large dome-shaped 15,544-seat indoor arena located in Champaign, Illinois, owned and operated by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The arena hosts games for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball, women's basketball, and wrestling teams. It also doubles as a performance and event center, and is one of the largest venues between Chicago and St. Louis. It opened in 1963 and was known until 2013 as Assembly Hall until State Farm Insurance acquired naming rights as part of a major renovation project.
Welsh–Ryan Arena is a 7,039-seat multi-purpose arena in Evanston, Illinois, United States, near the campus of Northwestern University. It is home to four Northwestern Wildcats athletic teams: men's basketball, women's basketball, women's volleyball, and wrestling. It is located inside McGaw Memorial Hall, to the north of Ryan Field.
The Stony Brook Indoor Sports Complex is a multi-purpose complex located in Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY. The Complex houses the Island Federal Arena on the west end, the Pritchard Gymnasium on the east end, the Dubin Family Athletic Performance Center on the north side, the Goldstein Family Student–Athlete Development Center, a 25-yard long swimming pool, and many other athletic facilities within. Currently, the Stony Brook Seawolves men's and women's basketball and volleyball programs’ home games are played in the Complex, with men’s and women’s basketball playing in the Island Federal Arena and volleyball playing in the Pritchard Gymnasium.
The Kenney Gym and the Kenney Gym Annex are two buildings located at 1402-06 Springfield Avenue in Urbana, Illinois, on the campus on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Although the two buildings have been physically connected since 1914, they were built separately. They were jointly added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 under the name Military Drill Hall and Men's Gymnasium.
The Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center, often referred to as the MAC Center and the MACC, is a multi-purpose arena on the campus of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, United States. The building is primarily used as an athletic venue that is home to five Kent State Golden Flashes varsity athletic teams, including the men's basketball and women's basketball teams. The arena also hosts women's volleyball, women's gymnastics, and wrestling as well as commencement exercises, speakers, and concerts throughout the year. The building houses the offices of the Kent State Athletic Department and the coaches of each of the university's varsity athletic teams.
Lantz Arena is a 5,400-seat multi-purpose arena in Charleston, Illinois. It is home to the Eastern Illinois University (EIU) Panthers men's and women's basketball teams and to the women's volleyball team. Completed in 1967, the Lantz Arena Complex also houses the offices of the EIU athletic department, the Lantz Indoor Fieldhouse, and the Ray Padovan Swimming Pool. The building replaced the Health Education Building, which was built in 1938 and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. The arena complex is named for Charles Lantz, longtime football, basketball, and baseball coach of the Panthers.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is an academic research institution located in Urbana, Illinois and the flagship campus of the University of Illinois System. Since its founding in 1867, it has resided and expanded between the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana.
Braggin' Rights is the annual men's college basketball contest between the University of Illinois Fighting Illini of the Big Ten Conference and University of Missouri Tigers of the SEC.
Memorial Gymnasium is a 2,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Charlottesville, Virginia. It opened in 1924. It replaced Fayerweather Gymnasium as home to the University of Virginia Cavaliers basketball team until University Hall opened in 1965.
The Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Big Ten Conference. Home games are played at the State Farm Center, located on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's campus in Champaign. Illinois has one pre-tournament national championship and one non-NCAA tournament national championship in 1915 and 1943, awarded by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll. Illinois has appeared in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 32 times, and has competed in 5 Final Fours, 9 Elite Eights, and has won 18 Big Ten regular season championships.
The Sam M. Vadalabene Center is a multi-purpose sports and recreation building on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) that features an arena with a seating capacity of just over 4,000. The Vad Pad, which opened in 1984, was named in honor of Illinois State Senator Sam M. Vadalabene (1914–1994), who was a long-time and ardent supporter of the university. The Vad Pad is home to the SIUE Cougar basketball, volleyball, and wrestling teams. In addition to the arena, the Vad Pad also houses a swimming pool, classrooms, offices, and several activity areas. The Student Fitness Center (SFC), built in 1993, is immediately adjacent to and an integral part of the venue and contains numerous additional recreational and fitness facilities.
The Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Big Ten Conference. Home games are played at State Farm Center, located on University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign's campus in Champaign.
The Activities and Recreation Center, more commonly known as the ARC, is an athletic facility at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign for current university students, members and guests. According to the university, Activities and Recreation Center is "one of the country's largest on-campus recreation centers".
The 1925–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
The 1936–37 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
The Illinois Fighting Illini women's volleyball is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate volleyball program of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, often referred to as "Illinois", located in Champaign, Illinois. The Illinois volleyball team competes in the Big Ten Conference and has played their home games in Huff Hall since 1990. Since moving into Huff Hall from the Kenney Gym, Illinois Volleyball has remained in the top 10 in the nation for average home attendance. In 2013, the program broke its previous home attendance record, averaging 3,117 per match.
Wills Gymnasium, often referred to as Wills Gym, was a multi-purpose athletic facility on the campus of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, United States. Construction started in 1924 and the building was dedicated in 1925. It was the first dedicated gymnasium on the KSU campus, which had opened in 1913. Before the opening of Wills Gym, physical education classes and the intercollegiate and intramural sports teams used a variety of spaces for games and classes, both on campus in other buildings and off campus. The main gym seated approximately 4,000 people and the basement level included an indoor pool, locker rooms, and bowling alley. At the time, its capacity made it one of the largest facilities in the region. The building served as the primary home of the university's athletic teams and physical education department until 1950, when the Men's Physical Education Building opened. Wills Gym was the first permanent home of the Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team, and was also the original home venue for wrestling, men's swimming, men's and women's gymnastics, women's volleyball, and women's basketball.
The Illinois–Northwestern men's basketball rivalry is an intra-Big Ten Conference, college sports rivalry between the Illinois Fighting Illini and Northwestern Wildcats. Multiple factors have played into the creation of the games between the two schools; Illinois and Northwestern are both located within the state of Illinois and are located about 157 miles (253 km) apart, and they share recruiting ground.
