We are still months away from the official 2025-26 Illinois basketball schedule coming out but who said we couldn’t start piecing together what we already know about next year’s slate?
Unlike football, college basketball schedules are typically built in between seasons with only a few pre-planned games already set. Most of Illinois’ nonconference slate still being constructed, but we do at least know of a couple matchups on the slate for next year, plus every Big Ten Conference opponent.
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Let’s dive into what we already know about the 2025-26 Illinois basketball schedule as we begin to look ahead to next year:
Alabama
Illinois will meet Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide again in the 2025-26 season, this time on Nov. 19, 2025, at United Center in Chicago, the schools announced Thursday. The two programs met last season in Brimingham, Alabama, won by the Tide, 100-87.
Missouri
The annual Braggin’ Rights game will take place at Enterprise Center in St. Louis between the Illini and rival Mizzou, likely the week before Christmas. The game, played since 1980, will take place through at least 2029. Illinois has won three of the last four, including 80-77 in 2024.
The official Big Ten schedule will come out over the next few months, but last month we learned where Illinois will play each of its conference games. The Big Ten slate includes 20 regular-season games and typically begins in December with a few games before the holidays running through to early March. Here is who the Fighting Illini will host at home, play on the road and play both at home and away:
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Home only: Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Rutgers, Washington, Wisconsin
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Away only: Iowa, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, UCLA, USC
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Home and away: Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern
What’s next for Illinois basketball? Transfer portal, NBA, recruiting and more
Big Ten Tournament
The top 15 teams in the Big Ten qualify for the conference tournament, which will take place at the United Center in Chicago from March 11-15, 2025.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: First look at Illinois basketball 2025-26 schedule
