Sturdy: Illini Hoops Schedule is a Gauntlet

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst & Co-Host, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

September 18, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

The Illini schedule for the 2025-26 season is a gauntlet, but that’s just the way Brad Underwood wants it. Illinois will play a total of 25 games against high major opponents with a veteran team capable of making a run.

“Players want to play in big games,” Underwood told IlliniGuys.com last summer. “They want to play against the best. We’re going to play good people. We don’t shy away from it . . .

 

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