Why Bill Murray, Longtime Illinois Fan, Is Rooting for UConn in Final Four

Famous actor and comedian Bill Murray is notably a Chicago-area native and continues to support all Chicagoland and Illinois teams well into his 70s.

The Caddyshack star is also a lifelong supporter of the University of Illinois. Photos of him attending the 2005 Final Four sporting the bright orange resurfaced this week (notice Duke coach Jon Scheyer standing behind him as a recruit in the photo below) as the Fighting Illini reach the Final Four for the first time since that famous run.

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Murray will be in attendance for Saturday night’s game, but this time he won’t be wearing any orange. Instead, he’ll be rooting for Illinois’ opponent, UConn.

Why is Murray hanging up his orange and navy for Saturday’s highly-anticipated matchup? His son Luke is an assistant coach for the Huskies. He somewhat easily switched his alliance to support his son.

“Go Huskies!” Murray wrote in a text to the Chicago Tribune this week. “I only get tickets if I keep my mouth shut.”

The Tribune went back into the archives to find some photos of Murray at the 2005 Final Four. And look who’s next to him, over his right shoulder, when he was 17 and being heavily recruited by the Illini: pic.twitter.com/RdTOocvUXZ
— Andrew Carter (@_andrewcarter) April 4, 2026

Murray’s attended quite a few UConn games while his second-oldest son (he has six) has been on the staff since 2021. This will be the Huskies’ third Final Four with Murray on staff as an assistant, and it will be his last of this run. He was recently hired as Boston College’s new head coach, a job he’ll take over after UConn’s season comes to an end.

It’s been easy enough Murray to cheer for the Huskies over the years, but Saturday night’s game may put his allegiance to the rest since they’ll be facing another of his longtime favorite college team, Illinois. Murray’s a passionate sports fan, so you’ll almost definitely catch a glimpse of him during the broadcast while he’s cheering for the Huskies.

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