CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) - The 2026 Illinois football schedule has been released, announced by the Big Ten Conference on Tuesday.Â
Illinois will open the season with three straight home games before the Big Ten opener at Ohio State. The Buckeyes lost 13-10 to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship game in December.Â
Following that matchup, the Fighting Illini will face Purdue during Homecoming.Â
In total, Illinois will have seven home games at Gies Memorial Stadium.Â
The full schedule is as follows, according to Illinois Athletics:
- Sept. 5 - vs. UAB
- Sept. 12 - vs. DukeÂ
- Sept. 19 - vs. Southern Illinois
- Sept. 26 - at Ohio State
- Oct. 3 - vs. Purdue (Homecoming)
- Oct. 10 - at Michigan State
- Oct. 17 - Bye
- Oct. 24 - vs. Oregon
- Oct. 31 - at Maryland
- Nov. 7 - vs. Nebraska
- Nov. 14 - at UCLA
- Nov. 21 - vs. Iowa
- Nov. 28 - at Northwestern
Illinois is coming off back-to-back nine-win campaigns and has gone 19-7 under head coach Bret Bielema the last two seasons.Â
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