Illinois Basketball Releases 2026-27 Non-Conference Basketball Schedule

This coming season is a pivotal one for the Illinois Fighting Illini basketball program as coach Brad Underwood has set the wheels in motion for his team to make it to back-to-back Final Fours.

The goal this season will be nothing short of championships, as Illinois hasn’t won a regular season Big Ten title since 2022, although they did win the Big Ten Tournament in 2024. They have also never won a national championship despite coming close many times. 

Advertisement

The team’s non-conference schedule was released on Friday, and parts of it read like a ‘Who’s Who?’ of college basketball.

Several highly talented, blue blood college hoops programs are expected to tangle with Underwood’s team, in games that should fetch a pretty penny among ticket brokers heading into the season. 

Apr 4, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini center Tomislav Ivisic (13) blocks the shot of UConn Huskies center Eric Reibe (12) during the second half of a semifinal of the Final Four of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Jon Scheyer’s Duke Blue Devils and Michael Malone’s North Carolina Tar Heels are among the teams listed on this year’s non-conference schedule, posing a high level challenge for coach Underwood’s loaded squad. 

Advertisement

The schedule includes only two true regular season road games but they are against two of the best college basketball programs of the last few years in Texas Tech and Duke. 

It also includes neutral site challenges that will serve as excellent warm-ups for the NCAA Tournament next spring. 

Dates for the games are as follows: 

Oct. 17 – at Cincinnati (Exhibition)

Oct. 23 – Baylor (Exhibition) 

Oct. 28 – University of Illinois-Chicago (Exhibition) 

Nov. 2 – Fairleigh Dickinson

Nov. 10 – at Texas Tech 

Nov. 13 – Sam Houston State 

Nov. 20 – Eastern Illinois 

Nov. 27 – Western Kentucky 

Dec. 20 – Missouri (St. Louis) 

Jan. 30 – North Carolina (Nashville)

The Fighting Illini’s full Big Ten schedule hasn’t been…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/illinois-basketball-releases-2026-27-140035206.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-08-22 14:00:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.