Chambana Sun

Illinois will begin its 121st season of men's basketball on Monday, November 3, with a home game against Jackson State at the State Farm Center in Champaign. The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Central Time and will be broadcast on BTN with Kevin Kugler and Bruce Weber providing commentary. Fans can also follow the action via live stream on foxsports.com/live/btn or listen through the Busey Bank Illini Sports Network, Varsity Network App, or SiriusXM channels.

Illinois enters the 2025-26 season ranked No. 17 in the Associated Press preseason poll and No. 14 in the coaches poll. The team returns three starters from last year's squad that won 22 games, reached the NCAA Round of 32, and finished ranked 17th by kenpom.com. Under head coach Brad Underwood, now in his ninth year at Illinois, expectations remain high as the program has been included in the AP preseason Top 25 five times over the past six seasons.

The probable starting lineup features Kylan Boswell (senior guard), Keaton Wagler (freshman guard), Ben Humrichous (graduate forward), David Mirkovic (freshman forward), and Zvonimir Ivisic (junior forward/center). Key reserves include Andrej Stojakovic, Tomislav Ivisic, and Ty Rodgers—though Rodgers is out indefinitely following knee surgery.

Coach Brad Underwood holds a career record of 274-128 (.682) overall and is 165-101 (.620) during his tenure at Illinois. He has guided Illinois to a strong conference performance since 2019-20; Illinois has matched Purdue for most Big Ten wins during this period with both teams posting 81 league victories over six seasons. When including conference tournament play, Illinois again ties Purdue for most total wins against Big Ten opponents at 88.

Illinois recently defeated Illinois State in an exhibition game by a score of 92-65 and played a closed scrimmage against Florida—the defending national champion—on October 25.

Historically, Illinois has performed well in season openers with an all-time record of 106-14 (.883). The team has won nine consecutive openers dating back to 2016 and boasts an undefeated mark under Coach Underwood when opening a season: "Illinois has won nine straight openers dating back to 2016, including an 8-0 mark in season openers under head coach Brad Underwood." The Illini are especially successful when starting their campaign at home; they have gone 41-2 (.953) when opening at State Farm Center and have not lost such a game there since December of 1993.

Monday's contest marks the sixth meeting between Illinois and Jackson State—all previous games were held at State Farm Center—with Illinois leading the series five games to none. Coach Underwood is also undefeated against Jackson State after guiding his team to a win over them during their Big Ten Championship season in November of 2021.

Illinois remains unbeaten against current members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), holding a perfect record across all matchups.

Fans interested in attending can purchase tickets through FightingIllini.com.