Brad Underwood building strong Illini nonconference slate, but not at home

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) - Brad Underwood has been very intentional in his nonconference scheduling with the Illini men's basketball program.

In the 2025-26 season, Illinois played 4 programs ranked in the AP Top 25 rankings before the heart of Big Ten competition. However, just 1 of those contests was part of a home-and-home series, a matchup with #11 Texas Tech in Champaign. The other 3, Alabama (#11), UConn (#5), and Tennessee (#13), were all in neutral site arenas.

The 2026-27 season is shaping up to be more of the same. Illinois will play the away leg of the series with Texas Tech, while starting on the road in another series with Duke in Durham. Still, other high profile games will be in larger cities and not home arenas. The Illini will meet UConn once again, this time in Chicago at the United Center, as well as a return trip to Nashville to play North Carolina.

"You wanna find out how good you are," said Brad Underwood. "You wanna prepare yourself for league. The only thing, where I have regret is it's much harder to get home-and-homes. We have so many neutrals."

While Illinois has scheduled other nonconference competition to host at the State Farm Center, like Eastern Illinois and Penn, the program does not have a signature home game as of July 7.

"I'm thankful for the [Texas] Tech and the Duke series," Underwood adds. "I wish college basketball would go back to playing home-and-homes."

The highlighted games will still pit the Illini against some of the top programs in the country. Duke, UConn, Texas Tech, and North Carolina, were each ranked in the top 35 of the KenPom Rankings at the end of last season.

"We're gonna play a great schedule," Underwood said. "It'll prepare us. It's all about what you do in March and putting yourself in the best position to be great then."

Illinois will still be tested with Big Ten competition expected to be among the toughest in the nation. By the end of the NCAA tournament, the Illini were 1 of 5 conference programs inside the top 25 in the KenPom rankings. Michigan led the rankings and went on to claim the national championship.