Aug. 21—CHAMPAIGN — Three exhibition games, including a pair against Big 12 teams, will lead Illinois into the 2026-27 season, which starts Nov. 2 against Fairleigh Dickinson at State Farm Center.
Illinois will play its first exhibition game Oct. 17 at Cincinnati before hosting Baylor on Oct. 23 and UIC on Oct. 28. The full nonconference slate includes seven home games against mid-major opponents, with the marquee games either on the road or at neutral sites.
The full schedule, including dates for Illinois' 20 Big Ten games, will be released at a later date. The Illini will play home-and-home conference games against Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin. Their home-only slate includes Iowa, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, UCLA and USC. Illinois' road-only Big Ten opponents are Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Rutgers and Washington.
Oct. 17 at Cincinnati (exh.)
Oct. 23 Baylor (exh.)
Oct. 28 UIC (exh.)
Nov. 2 Fairleigh Dickinson
Nov. 5 Pennsylvania
Nov. 10 at Texas Tech
Nov. 13 Sam Houston
Nov. 17 at Duke
Nov. 20 Eastern Illinois
Nov. 23 Winthrop
Nov. 27 Western Kentucky
Dec. 4 vs. Connecticut (Chicago)
Dec. 20 vs. Missouri (St. Louis)
Jan. 30 vs. North Carolina (Nashville, Tenn.)
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