Big Ten Men's Basketball Schedule Released
September 16, 2026 | Men's Basketball
News
Printable Schedule | Join the I FUND | Ticket Information
Champaign, ILL. – The Big Ten announced the conference basketball schedule live on BTN Wednesday afternoon, completing the 2026-27 Illinois Men's Basketball schedule. Illinois previously released its non-conference schedule on Aug. 21.
Fighting Illini Basketball has high expectations once again in 2026-27, appearing in the Top 5 of numerous preseason rankings. Head coach Brad Underwood welcomes back five rotation players from the NCAA Final Four run in David Mirkovic, Andrej Stojakovic, Tomislav Ivisic, Zvonimir Ivisic, and Jake Davis while adding a top-15 recruiting class and impact transfer to this year's roster.
Illinois is coming off its first Final Four appearance in 21 years, a 28-9 record to mark the fourth-most wins in school history, and a Big Ten runner-up finish. Illinois remains the winningest team in Big Ten play this decade and is one of four programs nationally with seven straight 20-win regular seasons.
Illinois Big Ten Schedule Notes
• For the ninth straight year, Big Ten teams will compete in a 20-game conference schedule.
• The 18-team scheduling format calls for each school to play three teams both home and away, and 14 teams once (seven home and seven away).
• Three teams Illinois plays twice (home and away): Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin
• Seven teams Illinois plays only at home: Iowa, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, UCLA, USC.
• Seven teams Illinois plays only on the road: Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Rutgers, Washington.
• Illinois has an even split with five weekend (3 Saturday, 1 Sunday, 1 Friday night) and five weeknight games, both at home and on the road.
• Illinois plays 10 league games against teams that participated in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
• Illinois opens Big Ten play on the road for the fifth straight season, Dec. 8 at Minnesota. The Illini carry a nine-game winning streak over the Golden Gophers, including four in a row in Minneapolis.
• The Illini's second early season conference game is home on Saturday, Dec. 12 vs. Penn State.
• Illinois resumes B1G play to start the new year at Wisconsin on Jan. 2. The Illini will look to end a three-game skid against the Badgers after previously winning nine straight.
• Illinois plays consecutive home games against Purdue on Jan. 5 and Ohio State on Saturday, Jan. 9. The Illini won both of these matchups away from home last season.
• The following week holds a pair of road games with trips to Northwestern on Jan. 13 and Maryland on Jan. 16.
• Nebraska visits State Farm Center on Jan. 19, the first day of 2027 spring semester classes at Illinois. The Illini and Cornhuskers played two highly competitive games last season, with Nebraska winning in Champaign on a 3-pointer at the buzzer and the Illini storming back in the second half to beat the fifth-ranked Huskers in Lincoln.
• The Illini travel to Indiana on Jan. 24. Illinois' most recent visit to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall was a 25-point victory in 2025, its largest road win ever in Bloomington.
• Illinois plays three straight Big Ten home games from Feb. 27 through Feb. 5, but that stretch also includes a non-conference matchup with North Carolina in Nashville on Jan. 30.
• Illinois welcomes USC to Champaign on Jan. 27 and UCLA the following week on Feb. 2.
• A Friday night showdown at State Farm Center against Michigan State on Feb. 5 will conclude a stretch of five games in 13 days.
• The Illini embark on back-to-back road trips the following week to defending Big Ten and NCAA Champion Michigan on Feb. 9 and Purdue on Feb. 12.
• Illinois' lone home appearance over a five-game stretch comes against Northwestern on Feb. 16.
• The road trip to the Pacific Northwest follows, with games at Oregon on Feb. 20 and Washington on Feb. 23.
• Illinois returns to Champaign to host Wisconsin on Sunday, Feb. 28 before playing its final road game at Rutgers on March 3.
• Illinois wraps up the regular season at home against Iowa on Saturday, March 6. It will mark a rematch of the 2026 Elite Eight game that saw the Illini win the South Regional Championship and earn a trip to the Final Four.
• The Big Ten Tournament is set for March 9-14 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, featuring all 18 teams.
