What to expect from Big Ten basketball schedule release
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
The Illini hoops schedule will finally be finalized as the Big Ten conference schedule is set to be released Wednesday afternoon. Big Ten Network will host a conference schedule release show at 4 p.m. CT, where they will go through every team and announce its league slate.
If you followed my schedule tracker throughout the offseason, then you are aware that the Illini finalized their non-conference schedule a couple of months ago, and we have been waiting patiently for the conference slate.
The non-conference slate for the Illini is as follows:
- @ Cincinnati — Saturday, October 17 (Exhibition)
- vs. Baylor — Friday, October 23 (Exhibition)
- vs. UIC — Wednesday, October 28 (Exhibition)
- vs. Fairleigh Dickinson — Monday, November 2 (Opening Night)
- vs. Penn — Thursday, November 5
- @ Texas Tech — Tuesday, November 10
- vs. Sam Houston State — Friday, November 13
- @ Duke — Tuesday, November 17
- vs. Eastern Illinois — Friday, November 20
- vs. Winthrop — Monday, November 23
- vs. Western Kentucky — Friday, November 27
- UConn (United Center) — Friday, December 4
- Missouri (Enterprise Center) — Sunday, December 20
- vs. Seattle — Tuesday, December 29
- North Carolina (Bridgestone Arena) — Saturday, January 30
The January game against North Carolina will give Illinois a break from the Big Ten grind, but it will also give the Illini less rest between conference games throughout the season.
The Big Ten Network special on Wednesday afternoon will provide specific dates for each conference game, as the opponents were announced by the conference back in May. Illinois will play the following Big Ten opponents:
Home
- Iowa
- Nebraska
- Michigan State
- Ohio State
- Penn State
- UCLA
- USC
- Northwestern
- Purdue
- Wisconsin
Away
- Northwestern
- Purdue
- Wisconsin
- Indiana
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Oregon
- Rutgers
- Washington
The Big Ten slate will be a 20-game schedule for the ninth straight season, with every team playing each other at least once. There will be two conference games in December in the midst of non-conference play, while the final 18 games will be played following the new year.
With the expanded conference, each team will only play three other teams twice. For the Illini, those teams will be Northwestern, as usual, along with Purdue and Wisconsin. Northwestern has been and will remain a protected rivalry for Illinois basketball, meaning the two teams will play at each other’s arenas every year.
Other yearly protected rivalries include Michigan and Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State, Wisconsin and Minnesota, Indiana and Purdue, and Iowa and Nebraska. The four West Coast schools will also all play each other twice every season to limit travel for those programs.
Illinois will head to the Pacific Northwest for the second time this season to play Oregon and Washington. Those two games will be played on the same weekend to limit travel, and the same will be true for every Big Ten team traveling west to play Oregon/Washington or UCLA/USC.
Teams alternate years between traveling to the Los Angeles schools and the Pacific Northwest. This year, the Illini will return to the Northwest, where they went 2-0 the last time they made the trip.
The conference schedule should shape up to be another great one for the 2026-27 season. I love that the Big Ten gave Illinois two games against old Big Ten schools like Purdue and Wisconsin, unlike last year when they played Nebraska and Maryland twice.
The Big Ten seemed to load up the most meaningful games toward the end of the season last year, so it will be interesting to see if the conference takes the same approach again this year.
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos