The Illinois game Friday against SIU-E is not on TV. It's on ESPN360.com.

I've never watched a game on ESPN360. You might be the same way. But if you want to watch the Illini's season opener - and you don't have tickets - the only way to watch it is on ESPN360.com.

I got in touch with Damon Phillips, the VP of ESPN360.com, to learn more about ESPN360, since most of you won't be at the Assembly Hall, and the first two games on Illinois' schedule are only available on ESPN360.

Phillips promised me it's easy to use. "It's going to look like a regular broadcast on TV," he said, only you'll be watching the game on your computer. First, you go here, to the ESPN360.com Website. Then, he said, you download their video player and hit "Watch now."

He said all of the main Internet service providers (Comcast, Charter, AT&T, Verizon, etc.) in the C-U area allow you to use ESPN360. (My technical expertise extends to "how to set the drag on my fly rod," so I don't really know what stuff like that means.) Here's a number to call if you have problems: 1-888-549-3776. There's also a Contact Us tab on the ESPN360 Website.

ESPN360 has been around since 2003. Over 1,000 college basketball games this season will be broadcast on ESPN360, complete with replays, play-by-play and color commentators (Dickey Simpkins - Brandon Paul's AAU coach with Team NLP - is the analyst for Friday's game) and different camera angles, just like you'd see on TV, Phillips said.

"It's definitely a new experience for a lot of people," he said. "But once you get to the Website it's pretty easy."

I don't know if this helps or not, but I know how frustrating it can be when I want to watch one of my teams and I don't know how. Let me know how it goes on Friday.