Illinois Basketball Non-Conference Schedule Preview

Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports At long last, we have ~some~ stability in the early season schedule, and we will see this eagerly awaited college basketball season kick off for the Illini this week. While it doesn’t come with the typical early season hype with major early season tournaments, there’s some intriguing matchups to test the meddle of this Illinois squad early before getting into Big Ten play. The first three matchups, North Carolina A&T, Chicago State and Ohio, should be low stress tune-ups, especially as home contests, for this talented Illinois squad. The final three — the Jimmy V Classic matchup against Baylor, Big Ten/ACC Challenge against Duke and the annual Braggin Rights game vs. Missouri — should be early season pressure tests to see how well this team is coming together. Let’s get into it.

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