Illinois Basketball: Illini vs UT-Martin canceled, one option left

Just when you thought Illinois basketball had a game on Saturday, it gets taken away.

In the COVID-19 world we live in today, the only certainty is that there is no certainty. On Friday morning, the Illinois basketball Twitter page announced that the Illini matchup with UT-Martin on Saturday has been canceled. What was the reason?

COVID-19.

The Skyhawks had positive tests within the program and therefore, the game was called off. There are two prongs to this news.

The first prong is the health aspect. I hope the player, coaches and staff of the UT-Martin program get and stay healthy. Health is way more important than sports. Get healthy and get back on the court.

The second prong to all of this is the basketball side of things. Illinois needed a game between No. 2 Baylor and No. 6 Duke.

After taking a beating in the second half of the second half against the Bears, Illinois needed a tune-up game. They needed a team to play so the Illini could fix some things before heading to Cameron Indoor Stadium. That was supposed to be UT-Martin.

Now Illinois is going to go from the Bears to the Blue Devils with just practice in between. Are there some other options for replacement games for tomorrow, though?

I believe Notre Dame would be out of the question. They added a game on Sunday night against Detroit Mercy. So, they are out of the picture.

Illinois State is out of the question because they now play the Murray State Racers on Saturday night. DePaul would be out of the question since they just postponed a game with Northern Illinois yesterday. Northern Illinois can’t play because they are already playing against Pittsburgh on Saturday.

The Illinois-Chicago Flames are playing on Saturday against Ball State, so they are out. Loyola-Chicago is already playing on Saturday against Lewis. Southern Illinois is out as they play Quincy on Sunday. Western Illinois just played Iowa yesterday and plays Central Michigan on Sunday, so they are out. And Eastern Illinois plays on Saturday. That means they are out.

Illinois may have one option, though. The Bradley Braves play South Dakota State tonight in Peoria. After that game, they don’t play until December 17. So, this would be the most logical option. And, Peoria is a hop, skip and jump away from Champaign.

Hey, Bradley, let’s make this happen. A little central Illinois rivalry never hurt anyone.