Illinois Basketball: 2021-22 season preview and outlook for Fighting Illini
By Tommy Farmer
Schedule
In his time at Illinois, Brad Underwood has gone in both directions with non-conference scheduling. He’s lined up some mammoths of schedules where the team has gotten clobbered all of November and December, and he has also scheduled a holiday season, feel-good non-conference slate of cupcakes where Illinois wins every game by thirty and it’s impossible to tell how good the team really is.
This season’s slate of games lands right in the middle. There are a few tune-up games against teams the Illini should be favored by 20+ against, and there are also numerous games with power conference opponents.
The first test will come in the form of a legitimate, Monday night road game in Milwaukee. The Illini square off against Shaka Smart’s new Marquette team as part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games. While Marquette is expected to finish near the bottom of the Big East, it’ll be their first major home game of the season and the first big game of Shaka Smart’s tenure. Marquette fans will show up and make it a difficult environment to play in for the Illini, especially after not playing in a full arena for a long time.
Illinois, Cincinnati, Kansas State, and Arkansas will then travel to Kansas City for the Hall of Fame Classic a week later. The Illini will take on Cincy on the first day of the tournament, followed by the winner or loser of the Arkansas/Kansas State game depending on who wins the first game.
Neither Cincinnati nor Kansas State are slouches, but it’s fair to say many people’s eyes will dart to put Arkansas versus Illinois against each other. If these two teams do square off, this will be the biggest non-conference test for Illinois. The Razorbacks enter the season ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll, and, like the Illini, are looking to show the country that their program is here to stay following impressive seasons.
To finish out November, Mike Brey and the Irish come to Champaign for another Monday night battle against a big-name school. Notre Dame should be improved from last season and a threat to make the tournament. Mark this down also as the first game that the State Farm Center should really be rocking.
After a couple Big Ten tilts with Iowa and Rutgers, Arizona will pay a visit to Champaign. For reference, the Wildcats were left out of the AP Top 25, but they did receive the fourth most votes of the teams left out. This is the postponed second half of the home-and-home with Arizona that Nico Mannion lit up Illinois in two years ago at Arizona. It’ll be another solid test before the rest of Big Ten play.
The final major game of the non-conference slate is the always-heated Braggin’ Rights game vs. Missouri. This year’s game will take place on December 22 in St. Louis. Missouri isn’t expected to be anything too special, but Illinois and Missouri fans both should know that that doesn’t matter under this single game microscope. Every single year, the Braggin’ Rights game is a classic “throw the records out when these teams come together” battle. It’s why both teams have this one circled on their calendars every year no matter what.
Illinois will then go on to finish the regular season with eighteen straight games in the ever-rugged Big Ten. Of the other 13 teams in the conference, Illinois will get to play Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue, and Rutgers both at home and on the road. Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin will only square off against the Illini in Champaign, and Illinois will only play Indiana, Minnesota, and Nebraska on the road.
While the entire Big Ten season is always physically grueling and difficult, there are two week-long stretches that stand out as the toughest. The first one comes between January 14 and January 17. The Illini will square off with the two other teams highly regarded as the best in the conference in Michigan and Purdue. Both games will be in Champaign and will be huge if Illinois is serious about winning the league.
The second two-game stretch that really piques my interest both take place in the Hoosier state. Illinois will travel to Bloomington on February 5 to get their first look at the new and (how could they not be) improved Mike Woodson-era Indiana Hoosiers. Five days later, the Illini will venture back to the state of Indiana to square off against Purdue at Mackey Arena. Both games take place at notoriously difficult places to play and against teams who should be top-5 teams in the Big Ten.