Good Morning, Illini Nation: No change to scheduling approach
May 8—Brad Underwood has zero intention of relenting on scheduling even though his 2024-25 roster currently stands at two returning players and eight newcomers. At 10:24 a.m. Tuesday, the Illinois coach said he and his staff were "still trying to close one more elite game" for next season. At 10:34 a.m., CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein reported Illinois was working to finalize a game against Duke at Madison Square Garden, which would be a third straight season with a game in New York City for the Illini.
"It's going to be harder than ever," Underwood said about next season's schedule. The number of Big Ten games hasn't changed (still 20), but USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are still coming.
"We're putting together a great, great schedule and a schedule that is competitive as we are," Underwood continued. "As long as I'm the head ball coach at Illinois, we're going to play people. We're not going to run from them. ... We want to make sure that we position ourselves in our non-league to match the games we play in the Big Ten."
