The Illinois basketball schedule is beginning to take shape, as the Orange and Blue will welcome in Notre Dame from the ACC.
It’s late June and the college basketball season is on the horizon for the nation’s premier teams. While the Illini lost superstars like Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn, the team has kept a solid nucleus of young players who should help them throughout the 2021-22 season.
As per usual, the Illini will have a non-conference schedule to see how the defending Big Ten Tournament champions stack up against the rest of the country. One of those match-ups will feature Illinois taking on the ACC’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge at the State Farm Center in Champaign.
When will the Illinois basketball team host Notre Dame?
The Illini and Fighting Irish will lock horns for a tilt against one another on Monday, November 29. The news was first reported by Jon Rothstein and shortly thereafter, was made official from Illinois’ side.
The #EveryDayGuys will host Notre Dame on November 29 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge! #Illini pic.twitter.com/D2Ae64Zsjs
— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) June 28, 2021
“The #EveryDayGuys will host Notre Dame on November 29 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge,” the tweet read.
A tip-off time has not been confirmed, but information regarding that will likely get released in the coming weeks and months as the season draws closer. These two teams have some recent history against one another that dates back to 2018.
In a similar scenario, the Irish played host to a young Illinois team that saw Dosunmu, a freshman at the time, score eight points while tallying nine rebounds in the process. In addition, Aaron Jordan, a senior guard, scored 23 points while grabbing five rebounds and cashing in on an assist.
Eventually, a last-ditch effort by an underdeveloped Orange and Blue squad to win the game in the final seconds fell short, as they lost 76-74.
The 2018-19 team feels like a distant memory, as the Illini turned in one of its best seasons in over a decade the following year before it was ultimately cut short due to the Coronavirus.
Coming off of a second-round exit against Loyola-Chicago during the 2021 March Madness tournament, Illinois will look to re-group with a new-look roster, led by Illini Male Freshman of the Year, Andre Curbelo.
As for Notre Dame, they look to improve on a sixth-place finish, as they went 11-15 overall and 7-11 in conference play. A potential road upset win could jumpstart the beginning of a new era in South Bend, but only time will tell.