Illinois Basketball: 2020-21 season preview for the Fighting Illini

The schedule is unclear due to COVID-19, the Fighting Illini’s potential is not

All we know right now about the Fighting Illini’s 2020-21 schedule is that they play the Duke Blue Devils on Dec. 8 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. That is a huge matchup for the Fighting Illini and could be a trap game for the Blue Devils if they’re not careful.

The Fighting Illini lost narrowly to the Miami Hurricanes 81-79 last year in a game where Chris Lykes and Dj Vasiljevic scored 38 points combined for the Hurricanes. All four of the Fighting Illini’s top performers scored in double figures. The Fighting Illini are 8-13 all-time in the challenge but are tied for the sixth-most wins among Big Ten teams.

Outside of that, the teams they must beat this season to be in contention for the Big Ten are Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Rutgers. Sure, they had problems with Maryland and lost that season series, but I believe the other teams above are more of a threat to their chances at a Big Ten Championship.

They are a better team with Cockburn and Dosunmu than without those game-changers.  Had they stay in the NBA Draft process, this team would have been a middle of the pack or bottom tier team. The Fighting Illini need to make sure they don’t get caught resting on their success if they take off this year.