It has been a pretty special run for the Illinois basketball program under Brad Underwood.
Over the last six seasons alone, Underwood has put himself in the conversation for being the greatest Illini men’s basketball coach in program history.
One noticeable change from the previous regime to Underwood’s tenure is the level of competition. Illinois rarely used to play the top teams in the country in the non-conference, and this would lead to fizzling out toward the end of the season.
Underwood, on the other hand, takes on an incredibly tough schedule for multiple reasons. He wants to play tough teams to make his team better. I believe the Illini also builds the resume for the NCAA tournament by playing good teams.
One of the top teams the Illini have played lately is Tennessee. The Vols have made five-straight NCAA tournament appearances and have finished in the top five of the AP Top 25 in three out of the last four years.
On Thursday afternoon, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports posted on social media that Illinois and Tennessee are going to be playing each other moving forward. This upcoming season, the two will be playing on December 6 in Nashville. The Illinois portion of the home-and-home is going to be up in Chicago, but the date isn’t set yet.
NEWS: Tennessee and Illinois are finalizing an agreement to meet on December 6th at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, according to multiple sources.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 15, 2025
There will be a return game at the United Center in Chicago at a later date, which is currently TBD.https://t.co/aHqXsCntkF
Illinois doesn’t have a good record against Tennessee, but that isn’t deterring Brad Underwood’s squad
I love the fact that Illinois wants to take on the best teams in the country. Taking on cupcakes helps no one. We are now going to get Tennessee on the schedule for, likely, the next two seasons.
Illinois hasn’t fared too well against the Vols, though. In the history of both programs, the two teams have only matched up five times. The Illini are 1-4 all-time, and we have dropped the last two games.
In the last two contests, both coming in the last two seasons, Illinois has had opportunities against Tennessee. We had now-NBAer Dalton Knecht go off for 21 points in the first loss that was by seven points. In the contest this past season, Illinois had a chance to tie the game at the rim, but we missed the shot.
Moving forward, Illinois is going to get at least two more chances at Tennessee. If we want to be the best, we have to beat the best.