Illinois Basketball: Illini will be put to the test with tough schedule

The full Illinois basketball schedule was released on Friday morning, and it featured some interesting games to look forward to throughout the season.

The first of the eye-opening games for the Illini is at Arizona. The Wildcats didn’t have a great 2018-2019 campaign finishing 17-15, but this team usually reloads and will have talent on the floor. This game reminds me of the early 2000s Illinois matchups with Arizona. Hopefully, we can be competitive with Arizona like those teams were a couple of decades ago.

Illinois’ next big game then turns to the ACC/Big Ten Challenge where they face off against Miami (FL). The Hurricanes finished with a 14-18 record overall last season, but the ACC/Big Ten Challenge is always tough no matter the record.

The Big Ten slate, which actually starts in the non-conference, beings at Maryland and then at home against Michigan. Those are two huge games to start the conference schedule off on the right foot. I don’t care which game it is but Illinois needs to take one of these two contests.

Obviously, the annual Braggin’ Rights game against Missouri is always a big one. Mark Smith, Jeremiah Tilmon and Javon Pickett all still play on that team and it would be nice to beat them. The Illini competed for a while last season but couldn’t pull out a win. This Tigers team is tough.

Illinois then dips into the main conference schedule. The first three games are at Michigan State, home against Purdue and then at Wisconsin. So, the first five games for the Illini consist of three road games – Maryland, Michigan State, Wisconsin – and two home games – Michigan, Purdue. That is a really tough start to conference play. There is a solid chance four out of five of those teams are going to be ranked.

This is going to be a real test for Brad Underwood and the Illinois basketball team. We have the talent to compete with anyone in the Big Ten. Let’s see if they can put it together for a season and make the NCAA tournament.