Basketball

Illinois Basketball 2026-2027 schedule tracker

The Illinois basketball 2026-2027 schedule

Published

3 months ago

June 30, 2026

Alex Kyi

Credit to Armchair Illini Staff photographer, David Pollak @mushlik. Follow @Mushlik on instagram!

The Illinois basketball season cannot come soon enough! After an incredible run to the Final Four, the Illini have major expectations heading into the 2026-2027 season. Illinois retains over 60% of its scoring from last season and enters as one of the favorites in college basketball. There will undoubtedly be a massive target on the back of the Illini.

Brad Underwood has always done a great job scheduling the toughest opponents for Illinois basketball. The Illini always head into Big Ten play battle-tested and ready to battle. The 2026-2027 season will be no different.

Non-Conference

vs Fairleigh Dickinson – Monday, November 2nd (Opening Night)
vs Penn – Thursday, November 5th
@ Texas Tech – Tuesday, November 10th
vs Sam Houston State- November 13th
@ Duke – Tuesday, November 17th
vs Eastern Illinois – Friday, November 20th
vs Winthrop- Monday, November 23rd
UConn (United Center) – Friday, December 4th
Missouri (Enterprise Center) – Sunday, December 20th
North Carolina (Bridgestone Arena) – Saturday, January 30th

Shaping up to be quite the non-conference slate with five high-major opponents and an NCAA tournament team with Penn.

Supposedly, the #illini are going to try to add one more high-major opponent to this group.

Get me to November now pic.twitter.com/EV9BQT4Bn9

— Armchair Illinois (@ArmchairIllini) July 9, 2026

onent”>

Conference

vs Iowa
vs Nebraska
vs Michigan State
vs Ohio State
vs Penn State
vs UCLA
vs USC
vs Northwestern
vs Purdue
vs Wisconsin
@ Northwestern
@ Purdue
@ Wisconsin
@ Indiana
@ Maryland
@ Michigan
@ Minnesota
@ Oregon
@ Rutgers
@ Washington

__________

Thank you for reading Armchair Illini! The Armchair team is proud to partner with Hamilton Walker’s Steak, Seafood, and Spirits. Reserve your table HERE. Enter our home game giveaways on our social media pages to win a $50 gift card.

We are also proud to partner with the Campus Ink Illini NIL Store! Use the code: ARMCHAIRILLINI for 15% off your purchase. Please subscribe to the Armchair Illini Podcast on YouTube here.

Above all, for feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email our Publisher at alexkyi13@gmail.com. Additionally, please use our Seatgeek code for $20 off your purchase on Seatgeek.com: ARMCHAIRILLINOIS. It is because of your support that we have become one of the fastest-growing Illinois media outlets around.

Finally, subscribe to our newsletter here for more Illinois news! Go Illini.