Aug. 22—The college basketball schedule expanded in two ways ahead of the 2026-27 season, with teams able to schedule 32
total games and three exhibitions. Beat writer Scott Richey details Illinois' October tuneups and nonconference slate:
Cincinnati connections
A trip to Queen City to face Cincinnati in an Oct. 17 exhibition isn't a surprise when you consider the connections between Illinois and the Bearcats' staff under Jerrod Calhoun. The first-year Cincinnati coach hired former Illini head manager Andrew Bittle as his video coordinator, and brought former Effingham standout Curran Walsh with him from Utah State to work as an assistant coach with the Bearcats. Walsh's older brother, Cavan, is part of both Calhoun's and Brad Underwood's representation team at William Morris Endeavor.
Welcome back, Fran
A Nov. 5 date with Penn isn't just a rematch of last season's first-round NCAA tournament game in Greenville, S.C. It will also be Fran McCaffery's first trip back to State Farm Center in Champaign since his last Iowa team dropped an 81-61 game to Illinois on Feb. 25, 2025. The Hawkeyes didn't have an answer for Tomislav Ivisic that night, and odds are the Quakers might have the same kind of trouble. Mostly, though, McCaffery's return means the Orange Krush needs to break the Fran-Con poster out of storage.
Strength of schedule
Illinois could (should?) get five Quad I games in its nonconference slate with matchups against Texas Tech, Duke, Connecticut, Missouri and North Carolina. That's counting on Dennis Gates' revamped roster pushing the Tigers up a notch and Mike Malone bringing some of his NBA magic to Chapel Hill, N.C. But the top of the Illini schedule should provide what's needed. The rest? It's honestly not too bad from a metrics standpoint, with only Eastern Illinois and Fairleigh Dickinson ranked 300-plus in Bart Torvik's preseason projections.
Home slate honesty
Bringing back so many key contributors from a Final Four team apparently has a downside. Illinois tried to get a marquee opponent at home but couldn't force a "yes." The closest fans will get is the Oct. 23 exhibition against Baylor at State Farm Center. The Bears have been one of the more consistent teams in the country the last two decades under Scott Drew (save for last year), and they aren't that far removed from their 2021 NCAA title. Here's the deal, though. The game in Champaign doesn't count toward the standings.
Don't sleep on Winthrop
It's been done before. Illinois' 84-80 overtime loss to Winthrop was a low light of the John Groce era and came in his final season as Illini coach. Don't think that's not a coincidence. That November 2016 game did include one of the top scoring performances of all time at State Farm Center. It wasn't Von McDade's 50-pointer in his 1990 battle with Andy Kaufmann, but 5-foot-7 Winthrop guard Keon Johnson dropped 38 points on the Illini off the bench thanks to an absurd 71/57/100 single-game shooting slash in the Eagles' upset win.
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