{"id":682809,"date":"2026-03-26T09:19:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T09:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/682809\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T09:19:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T09:19:12","slug":"today-in-chicago-history-illinois-beats-arizona-in-ot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/682809\/","title":{"rendered":"Today in Chicago History: Illinois\u00a0beats\u00a0Arizona in OT"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on March 26, according to the Tribune\u2019s archives.<\/p>\n<p>Is an important event missing from this date? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/03\/26\/march-26-chicago-history\/mailto:krumore@chicagotribune.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Email us<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sports flashback:<\/strong> March 27, 1994<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Olympic champion speedskater Bonnie Blair, of Champaign, wears a big grin as she waves to fans after being surprised with a warm and raucous welcome on March 1, 1994, after winning at the Olympics while passing through O'Hare International Airport. (Michael Meinhardt\/Chicago Tribune) \" width=\"4965\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ctc-bonnie-blair-1_258971884.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"34236372\" \/>Olympic champion speedskater Bonnie Blair, of Champaign, wears a big grin as she waves to fans after being surprised with a warm and raucous welcome on March 1, 1994, after winning at the Olympics while passing through O\u2019Hare International Airport. (Michael Meinhardt\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p><strong>1994:<\/strong> Speedskater <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-bonnie-blair-breaks-her\/194150800\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bonnie Blair<\/a> broke her own world record in the 500 meters in an invitational competition at the Calgary Olympic Oval. Blair\u2019s :38.99 beat her world mark of :39.10, set on the same ice during the 1988 Olympics.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Weather records <\/strong>(from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weather.gov\/wrh\/climate?wfo=lot\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">National Weather Service, Chicago<\/a>)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>High temperature: <strong>79 degrees<\/strong> (2007)<\/li>\n<li>Low temperature: <strong>7 degrees<\/strong> (1873)<\/li>\n<li>Precipitation: <strong>1.4 inches<\/strong> (1959)<\/li>\n<li>Snowfall: <strong>8.9 inches<\/strong> (1970)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"DePaul's George Mikan receives the Most Valuable Player trophy from Jack Coffey, chairman of the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Committee, in New York, March 26, 1945. (AP Photo\/Matty Zimmerman)\" width=\"3112\" height=\"380\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CTC-L-AP-DEPAUL-GEORGE-MIKAN-NIT-MVP-1945-01.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"18615500\" \/>DePaul&#8217;s George Mikan receives the Most Valuable Player trophy from Jack Coffey, chairman of the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Committee, in New York, March 26, 1945. (Matty Zimmerman\/AP)<\/p>\n<p><strong>1945:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-george-mikan-scores-34-i\/168818471\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DePaul<\/a>, led by young coach Ray Meyer, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2005\/06\/03\/legend-born\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">beat Bowling Green<\/a> 71-54 at Madison Square Garden to win the National Invitation Tournament.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2005\/06\/03\/george-mikan\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">George Mikan<\/a>, DePaul\u2019s 6-foot-10 center, was named the NIT MVP, scoring a record 120 points during the three games. His presence also led to record crowds, as 72,622 fans turned out for the four nights at Madison Square Garden. Mikan was inducted into the Madison Square Garden Hall of Fame in 1982.<\/p>\n<p>DePaul played one more game that season, <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-oklahoma-am-defeats-dep\/168818589\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">losing<\/a> to NCAA champion Oklahoma A&amp;M 52-44 in the Red Cross Benefit Game at the Garden.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"3\/26\/2005..00240964A.....Illinois celebrates their last second victory over Arizona...Game action of the Illinois vs Arizona regional final game at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont.............. Photo by Jim Prisching ..OUTSIDE TRIBUNE CO.- NO MAGS, NO SALES, NO INTERNET, NO TV.. Chicago Tribune Photo by Jim Prisching 00240964A illini0326(Basketball College 2005 NCAA Playoffs) (University of Illinois, Illini vs Arizona, Regional Championships)\" width=\"3426\" height=\"222\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CTC-L-ILLINOIS-BEATS-ARIZONA-200-CT0021672307.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"18575439\" \/>Illinois celebrates a last second victory over Arizona on March 26, 2005, at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont. (Jim Prisching\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p><strong>2005:<\/strong>\u00a0Trailing by 15 points with 4 minutes and 4 seconds left in regulation, Illinois\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/uyMzO38ASIS0YbJi7MMh5AHy_a5uU4w332gCZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gfaDgOMggfZLLlUShSzCuVmnql6Q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/uyMzO38ASIS0YbJi7MMh5AHy_a5uU4w332gCZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gfaDgOMggfZLLlUShSzCuVmnql6Q&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1742929246978000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2gOkn8TKHmZ5NPQAxqmm4M\">rallied to beat<\/a>\u00a0No. 3 Arizona in overtime in the NCAA Tournament\u2019s Chicago regional final at Allstate Arena.<\/p>\n<p>Want more vintage Chicago?<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to the free\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/membership.chicagotribune.com\/newsletters\/subscribe\/lid\/2d8200fe-eefd-4f1d-bcaa-26a0ce79a461\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/membership.chicagotribune.com\/newsletters\/subscribe\/lid\/2d8200fe-eefd-4f1d-bcaa-26a0ce79a461\">Vintage Chicago Tribune<\/a>\u00a0newsletter, join our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/762760217263236\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/762760217263236\/\">Chicagoland history Facebook group,<\/a> stay current with<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/tag\/chicago-history\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Today in Chicago History<\/a> and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/vintagetribune\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/vintagetribune\/\">Instagram<\/a>\u00a0for more from Chicago\u2019s past.<\/p>\n<p>Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/03\/26\/march-26-chicago-history\/mailto:krumore@chicagotribune.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">krumore@chicagotribune.com<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/03\/26\/march-26-chicago-history\/mailto:mmather@chicagotribune.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">mmather@chicagotribune.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on March 26, according to the Tribune\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":682810,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[286867,1339,251542,960,6387,25431,5386,1818,286866,40085,1317,223739,5988],"class_list":["post-682809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-allstate-arena","tag-basketball","tag-bonnie-blair","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-history","tag-depaul","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-march-26","tag-march-madness","tag-ncaa","tag-speedskating","tag-world-record"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116294737572056238","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=682809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/682810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=682809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=682809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=682809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}