[2] The Illiniwek, Illinois Confederation, or Illini, were made up of 12 to 13 tribes who lived in the Mississippi River Valley.

Many NCAA and High School mascots bearing reference to first nation people have changed their names.

However, the University of Illinois maintains its position that the Illini nickname does not refer to the first nation inhabitants of the same land.

[4] The term Fighting Illini first appeared in a January 29, 1911, newspaper article describing the basketball team's effort during a game versus Purdue.

By March 3, 1911, the athletic teams appeared to have earned the Fighting Illini nickname as a formal appellation evidenced in a newspaper report.

In 2005, evidence suggested Fighting Illini was first used in 1921 as part of a fundraising campaign for construction of Memorial Stadium, but articles discovered in 2013 show it was first used in 1911.

The University of Illinois has been selected for national championship titles for their accomplishments in five seasons (1914, 1919, 1923, 1927, 1951) by NCAA-designated major selectors, often using mathematical algorithms.

[8] The Fighting Illini program recognizes the 1951 co-national title selection by William F. Boand,[9] but as recently as 2006 this was not mentioned officially by the school.

The Fighting Illini men's golf program has won 18 Big Ten championships and in 2013 finished as national runner-up at the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships, which was the highest finish in the program's history.

2014 was the third time in the past four years the program had qualified for the match play portion of the NCAA Men's Golf Championships in which the final eight teams compete in a bracket format.

The Illini have been one of the most successful men's tennis programs in the nation over the past twenty seasons, winning nine consecutive Big Ten Championships from 1997 to 2005; six of seven Big Ten Tournament Championships between 1999 and 2005; appearing in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen fourteen times, including eight years in a row (2002–09); advancing to three NCAA Final Fours between 2003 and 2007; and winning the 2003 NCAA National Championship.

Illinois men's tennis owns the record for longest consecutive win streak in NCAA history at 64 matches, spanning from their first match of the 2002–03 season and ending with a 4–2 defeat by UCLA in the semifinals of the 2004 NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament.

The men's Indoor Track and Field team has a total of 20 Big Ten Champion titles.

[citation needed] The indoor track and field team won five Big Ten Championships in 1989, 1992, 1993, 1995 and 1996.

State Farm Center is the current home arena for the wrestling team, seating approximately 15,500.

The Illini have experienced success in college rugby, including winning several Big 10 championships in the 1980s and reaching the national semifinals in 1980, 1983 and 1985.

The men's wheelchair basketball team was founded in 1948 by Timothy Nugent in response to a large number of disabled veterans using the G.I.

[38] On Clinton Lake, they host the Illinois Collegiate Rowing Invitational where they race against many other midwestern universities.

[41] The band has several traditions such as the Pregame Show, Three-In-One, Illinois Loyalty and Oskee Wow-Wow.

The song was written by Thacher Howland Guild, instructor in rhetoric and a member of the band's solo cornet section.

[42] Due to the song's length, it is normally played only at the beginning, halftime, and end of football games.

For many years, the band started playing the song "from the top" toward the end of the warmup period in basketball.

Famous basketball alumni include Dee Brown, Deron Williams, Luther Head, Derek Harper, Nick Anderson, Chuck Carney, Brian Cook, Kendall Gill, Steve Bardo, Jerry Colangelo, and Johnny Orr.

Notable athletes in baseball include Lou Boudreau,[45] Hoot Evers[46] and Ken Holtzman.

The university has also a number of Olympic athletes that include George Kerr, Don Laz, Daniel Kinsey, Harold Osborn, Bob Richards, and Justin Spring, From 1926 to 2007, Chief Illiniwek was the symbol for the Fighting Illini.

Chief Illiniwek would perform during halftime at Illinois football and basketball games, wearing a feathered headdress and buckskin clothes, and dancing while the marching band played "Three in One", an arrangement of three original songs.

It was customary for Illinois fans and attendees to raise their arms at the end of the halftime proceedings and, in unison, yell "chief".