Illinois Basketball: Full Big Ten schedule reveals tough road for Illini

The full schedule for the Illinois basketball team was released on Wednesday, and the road to the national title looks tough.

Before Wednesday, there were only six games scheduled. Illinois is set to host a round-robin tournament with North Carolina A&T, Wright State and Ohio to start the season. After this cakewalk beginning, things really start to heat up for the Orange and Blue.

Illinois heads over to Indianapolis to take on No. 2 Baylor in the Jimmy V Classic. No. 9 Duke is waiting less than a week later in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. The non-conference slate is capped off with the Braggin’ Rights game against Missouri that will be held in Columbia and not St. Louis.

We knew that part of the schedule as Wednesday approached. What we didn’t know is what teams the Illini would face twice in the Big Ten.

Honestly, the schedule could be tougher. Illinois only gets No. 5 Iowa and No. 13 Michigan State one time this season. That is the good news. But the bad news is the fact we play No. 7 Wisconsin twice in a three-week span. The Illini have to play No. 23 Ohio State twice as well.

This is the toughest schedule Illinois has faced in years.

Now that the full schedule is almost complete, the Illini are set to face at least 10 ranked teams this season. That is the most ranked teams since the 2013-14 campaign when Illinois finished the regular season 18-13, but this rendition of the Illinois basketball team is a lot better than in 2013-14.

I believe that a strong non-conference slate and a solid conference schedule is extremely important for the success of the Illinois basketball program.

During the 2004-05 national title run, Illinois faced seven ranked teams and their non-conference featured a matchup against No. 1 Wake Forest. We all know how that game ended. Just a few years prior, in 2000-01, Illinois advanced to the Elite 8. That season, the Illini played seven ranked teams and six of the seven were ranked inside the top 10. This included playing the No. 1 team in the nation two different times.

Matching up against tough teams will only make your team tougher. Playing a full cupcake schedule has never helped any Big Ten team. Illinois will get hardened by the likes of Baylor and Duke. This will help them perform well against the conference and maybe even come away with a Big Ten regular-season championship.