CHAMPAIGN — Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman announced the intention to move the Illini's regular Chicago men's basketball game to a Big Ten matchup. The thought? Dwindling attendance the past several seasons — a quarter-full United Center for the likes of Illinois-Chicago and New Mexico State — would turn around with a more marquee matchup.
Illinois will put that theory to the test Dec. 5 when it plays Ohio State in Chicago. That matchup was reported Monday by CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein along with an Illinois-Nebraska game on Dec. 2 in Lincoln, Neb. The early December Big Ten games — a first in 2017-18 — were kept after the conference's expansion to a 20-game league schedule this season.