Illinois Golf: Illini national championship match play matchups and how to watch

The men’s Illinois golf team once again has forged their way into the match play portion of the national championship.

It has been a long time since the Illini have reached this level of the national championship. You have to go all the way back to 2021 to find the last time Illinois made it to the Elite 8 and competed head-to-head with another program. That is two whole seasons.

Illinois managed to get back to the Elite 8 by playing some of the best golf we have seen in a long time. A slow start of +5, 285, was quickly corrected with back-to-back rounds of -7 and -4 to all but clinch a spot in the match play portion.

It is going to be a tough test for the men’s Illinois golf team to win the national championship

The first round of the Elite 8 will begin Tuesday morning, as the No. 3 seed Illini will take on No. 6 Florida State.

This is going to be an extremely tough matchup considering the Seminoles are ranked No. 7 in the nation, and they finished the stroke play portion on a strong note.

Since the second round, Florida State has continuously improved. They shot a +7, 287, in that second round. The Seminoles followed that up with a +2, 282 in round three. To make it to the Elite 8, Florida State had to throw up a low number on Monday, and they did just that. The Seminoles would shoot -7, 273, in the final round to advance.

Schedule and How to Watch

• Matthis Besard vs. Cole Anderson – 8:20 a.m. CT
• Tommy Kuhl vs. Jack Bigham – 8:30 a.m. CT
• Adrien Dumont de Chassart vs. Frederik Kjettrup – 8:40 a.m. CT
• Jackson Buchanan vs. Luke Clanton – 8:50 a.m. CT
• Piercen Hunt vs. Brett Roberts – 9:00 a.m. CT
• Coverage starts on the Golf Channel at 11:00 a.m. CT

It is going to be interesting to see who advances between these two teams. Illinois has been playing some great golf lately. Our No. 5 golfer, Jackson Buchanan, just finished second among the individuals for the national championship. He was only one stroke off the lead, which went to Fred Biondi of Florida.

Illinois finished the stroke play portion with three golfers in the top seven. That is an impressive feat. If we can continue this type of play against Florida State, there is no question we can advance.

Tune in at 8:20 a.m. CT to see the action take place. At 11:00 a.m. CT, coverage starts on the Golf Channel.