IWU IN NCAA DIVISION 3 PLAYOFFS
Illinois Wesleyan left the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and joined the NCAA Division III at the start of the 1984 season. The Titans knocked on the Final Four door many times, but heartbreaking Elite Eight losses against LeMoyne-Owen ('86), Ohio Wesleyan ('88), DePauw ('90), and Manchester ('95) prevented Illinois Wesleyan from advancing to the Final Four.
Then in 1996, the Titans won the Midwest/South regional in Roanoke, Va. to earn the right to play in the Division III Final Four in Salem, Virginia. In the national semifinal game, IWU led #1 ranked Rowan 77-76 before Demetrius Poles made an improbable tip in with :14 remaining. The Profs went on to win 79-77 and defeated Hope College the following night 100-93 for the national championship. The Titans beat Franklin & Marshall 89-57, for a national 3rd place finish.
The following season (1997), after graduating 4 of their top 5 players, the Titans found their way back to Salem and this time took home the Division III National Championship trophy. All-American Bryan Crabtree led the way against Nebraska Wesleyan, scoring 28 points. Brent Niebrugge added 25 points and 11 rebounds and freshman guard Korey Coon, who had 24 points in the semifinal game against Alvernia, had 17. Crabtree was named "Division 3 Player of the Year" and Dennie Bridges won "Division 3 Coach of the Year" honors.
IWU returned to Salem for the third time in six years in 2001. In a storybook finish to Dennie Bridges' career as head of his alma mater, the Titans won their final 4 CCIW games just to get on the NCAA selection bubble. They were given an at-large bid to the field of 48, and then defeated Grinnell and Wartburg to advance to the Sectionals. At the University of Chicago, IWU defeated CCIW champion Elmhurst on Friday night, and then the #1 team in the nation - the host Maroons. The Titans lost to William Paterson in the national semifinal game, but came back to defeat Ohio Northern in Bridges' final game as head coach.
2004
IWU 82 Maryville 73 (Shirk Center)
IWU 77 Hanover 67 (Hanover)
Wooster 58 IWU 53 (Sectionals at Wooster)
Sweet 16
2003
IWU 79 Blackburn 59 (Shirk Center)
IWU 85 Wash U 73 (Wash U)
Hampden-Sydney 76 IWU 68 (Sectionals at Randolph-Macon)
Sweet 16
2001
IWU 132, Grinnell 91 (Shirk Center)
IWU 65, Wartburg 60 (Wartburg)
IWU 63, Elmhurst 60 (Chicago)
IWU 77, Chicago 68 (Chicago)
William Paterson 67, IWU 52 (Salem, Va.)
IWU 76, Ohio Northern 73 (Salem Va.)
National 3rd place
1999
Ripon 63, IWU 58 (at Ripon)
1998
(first round bye)
IWU 95, Franklin 92, OT (at Shirk Center)
Gustavus Adolphus 67, IWU 61 (at Wisconsin-Platteville)
Sweet 16
1997
IWU 105, Maryville (Mo.) 66 (at Shirk Center)
IWU 54, Rose-Hulman 53 (at Shirk Center)
IWU 87, Bridgewater (Va.) 60 (at Shirk Center)
IWU 95, Methodist (N.C.) 63 (at Shirk Center)
IWU 85, Alvernia (Pa.) 82 (Salem Va.)
IWU 89, Nebraka Wesleyan 86 (Salem, Va.)
1997 National Champions
1996
IWU 77, Ripon 66 (at Shirk Center)
IWU 73, Hanover 67 (at Shirk Center)
IWU 116, Roanoke (Va.) 88 (at Roanoke College)
IWU 73, Washington U. 61 (at Roanoke College)
Rowan 79, IWU 77 (Salem, Va.)
IWU 89, Franklin & Marshall 57 (Salem, Va.)
3rd Place
1995
IWU 115, Westminster (Mo.) 74 (Shirk Center)
IWU 90, Washington U. 65 (Shirk Center)
IWU 67, Baldwin-Wallace 51 (Shirk Center)
Manchester 89, IWU 82 (Shirk Center)
Elite Eight
1994
IWU 79, Manchester 77 (Manchester College)
Washington & Jefferson 97, IWU 82 (Whittenberg College)
Sweet 16
1992
IWU 95, Elmhurst 70 (Fred Young Fieldhouse)
Maryville (Tenn.) 73, IWU 71
Sweet 16
1991
Ripon 65, IWU 63 (Ripon College)
1990
IWU 83, North Park 68 (Fred Young Fieldhouse)
IWU 71, North Central 63 (North Central)
IWU 85, Nebraska Wesleyan 63 (Minneapolis, Minn.)
DePauw 68, IWU 65 (Minneapolis, Minn.)
Elite Eight
1988
IWU 99, Monmouth 74 (Millikin)
IWU 91, Millikin 74 (Millikin)
Ohio Wesleyan 106, IWU 103 (Ohio Wesleyan)
Elite Eight
1987
IWU 69, DePauw 61 (North Park)
North Park 82, IWU 77 (North Park)
1986
IWU 79, Wisconsin-Whitewater 75 (Fred Young Fieldhouse)
IWU 63, Ripon 57 (Fred Young Fieldhouse)
LeMoyne-Owen 93, IWU 85 (LeMoyne-Owen)
Elite Eight
1984
Wisconsin-Whitewater 75, IWU 67 (Wis.-Whitewater)
North Central 82, IWU 77 (Wis.-Whitewater)