Illinois Basketball: Quick look at 2017-18 non-conference slate

The Illinois basketball non-conference schedule was released yesterday and it is a doozy.

Last season, in the 13 non-conference games the Illini played, they went up against two top 25 programs and five of the teams they played made the NCAA tournament. That was a pretty tough non-conference and they managed to have a 10-3 record, which isn’t bad.

This season looks a little bit different. They don’t have near the competition and they should finish with a better non-conference record. This will also help them reach the NCAA tournament as well. Illinois only has to play three teams who made the NCAA tournament last year. Wake Forest was a play-in game and lost to Kansas State, New Mexico State was a No. 14 seed and fell to Baylor and North Carolina Central was a play-in game and lost as well.

The rest of the schedule seems to be pretty simple as well. Illinois tips off the regular season against Southern at home in the Global Sports Invitational on November 10. Southern finished last season with a 15-18 overall record.

The next game is against Tennessee-Martin at home. They finished last season with a 21-12 record and made it to the second round of the CIT Tournament. Illinois then plays DePaul in the Gavitt Tipoff Games in Champaign. This shouldn’t be a tough matchup considering DePaul finished last season with a 9-23 record.

Illinois then welcomes in the Marshall Thundering Herd. This Marshall team advanced to their conference tournament finals last year but finished the regular season 17-14. Illinois shouldn’t have a problem with getting a victory here.

Augustana College is the next game for the Illini. This is a Division III opponent and while the Illini will win this game, it really won’t matter toward an NCAA tournament push. North Carolina Central is the next opponent on the schedule. They made the NCAA tournament as a play-in team for the No. 16 seed but lost. They finished last year with a record of 23-8.

The Illini then take on Wake Forest in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. This is always a fun matchup because I think back to the game Illinois pounded this Wake Forest team with Chris Paul. The Demon Deacons finished last year 18-12 and made it to a play-in game in the NCAA tournament but lost to Kansas State. This game will be played at Wake Forest so it could be a tough matchup.

Illinois takes on Austin Peay at home for their next game. They finished 11-19 last season so this game shouldn’t be a problem for the Illini. UNLV is the next game on the road. They finished 11-20 last season but had a good class of 2017 come in. This could be tough but Illinois should still win.

Longwood is the next Illini opponent. They play in Champaign and Illinois shouldn’t have a problem. This team finished 6-24 last season. The Illini then play New Mexico State up in Chicago. Illinois could have a hard time with this game because the Aggies were a good team last year and a trendy pick to upset the No. 3 seed Baylor in the first round. They finished with a 25-5 regular season record and will be a tough matchup for the Illini.

The Braggin’ Rights game against Missouri is next. This should be a good game with the stellar class the Tigers brought in. Illinois should have a hand up in this game, though. One of the toughest games for the Illini in the non-conference will be against Grand Canyon. They are an up-and-coming program and finished last year 22-9. This could be a tough one for the Illini.

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Overall, I see Illinois going 11-2 in the non-conference. This would set them up nicely for a solid Big Ten finish and, hopefully, an NCAA tournament appearance as well.