Despite Chicagoland being a known hotbed of basketball talent, no college basketball program in the state of Illinois has made the NCAA Tournament since 2013.
Much of the publicity this year has been directed towards Northwestern's strong season so far, which makes sense considering the Wildcats have never made the dance before. However, Illinois State is compiling a strong resume as well and haven't been to the dance since 1998.
The Redbirds are 11-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference and staring ahead at what is possibly the biggest game of the season to date. ISU heads to Wichita State, which has been a force in the MVC and has a 10-1 record this season. Both teams have four losses.
Watch the video above to see coach Dan Muller and leading scorer Deontae Hawkins talk about Saturday's big game against the Shockers.