Eastern Illinois Panthers

The Eastern Illinois Panthers play home games at Lantz Arena in Charleston, Illinois, representing a longtime member of the Ohio Valley Conference. A modest but persistent program, Eastern Illinois has occasionally broken through to the NCAA Tournament stage, giving the small east-central Illinois campus its moments in the national spotlight. The Panthers carry a workmanlike identity typical of the OVC's smaller programs.

Eastern Illinois fielded its first basketball team in the 1908-09 season and has competed in the Ohio Valley Conference for decades. The Panthers have reached the NCAA Division I Tournament twice, in 1992 and 2001, both first-round exits. Eastern Illinois remains a steady, if lower-profile, member of the OVC's long-running conference basketball tradition.