Illinois is close to firming up a four-year contract that will make Gonzaga the opponent for its annual United Center game in December, 2009. The agreement calls for the two teams to meet in Seattle in December, 2010 and play in Champaign and at the Zags' Spokane home in the final two years of the deal. The Illini don't have an opponent lined up yet for their 2010 game at the United Center. It's possible that UIC, which is owed another Chicago game by the Illini at some point, could be in that mix.
Illinois is scheduled to play in Las Vegas for its usual Thanksgiving tournament venture next year. Bradley is also in that field. For the first time in a while, the basketball team will have to share Thanksgiving-week attention with the football team. Illinois is completing a deal that will have Ron Zook's crew finishing its season with a game at Cincinnati on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The Illini are expected to wrap up their home football slate against Fresno State, giving them two challenging nonconference games at the end of their season.
Herb Gould started with the Sun-Times in 1977 and has covered several teams, including the Blackhawks. He is a long-time beat reporter covering the Fighting Illini and the Big Ten for the Sun-Times.
WHEN ILLINOIS GETS THEIR NEXT 2 RECRUITING CLASSES
THEY WILL TOUGHEN THE SCHEDULE, BUT UNTIL MORE
HELP ARRIVES THEY ARE DOING IT THE RIGHT WAY!
THEY HAVE ENOUGH PROBLEMS WITH THE BIG 10 THAN
WORRYING ABOUT NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULING!
HELP IS ON THE WAY, AND BOY THEY HAVE SOME GREAT
RECRUITS COMING TO CHAMPAIGN-URBANA!
Thanks for the thoughts, and for your excellent coverage of the Illini.
The schedule certainly seems more ambitious compared to the old days of the "Illini Classic". In addition, the expanded conference schedule, coupled with improved recruiting by several Big 10 schools, will make for some challenging seasons ahead.
You're overlooking Vanderbilt and Tulsa as well as Georgia. That's two SEC teams and a mid-major with strong tradition. All in all, Illinois' nonconference schedule is about right this year, for a team that's regrouping. That's especially true now that the Big Ten is back to an 18-game conference slate. When scheduling, it's not easy to predict how strong your nonconference opponents are going to be.
Herb,
Why doesn't Illinois play a tougher schedule? It seems like the Illini only play two major teams this year in non-conference games - Clemson and Missouri.
The Gonzaga series will be a great step in the right direction. But I would also like to see IL take on upper level Big East or Pac 10 team annually. Even if IL would lose that game, I can't see how a loss to a strong team significantly hurts the chances of a NCAA tourney bid. And it would make December much more interesting.
Thanks,
Matt