Illinois basketball schedule released
For Klee's breakdown of the nonconference schedule click here
We asked Paul Klee for his thoughts on the 2010-11 schedule.
"Schedules are like recruiting classes: we'll know how good it was after the games are played. But this Illinois schedule is an upgrade. Bruce Weber clearly thinks these guys have a chance to be very good. Otherwise Illinois wouldn't have lobbied for a headlining matchup in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, postponed the Cancun tournament in favor of New York and, to a lesser extent, OK'ed a visit from Weber's former school, SIU. In the period A.D. (After Dee), Illinois took a more conservative approach to nonconference scheduling. In 2010, Illinois has five marquee matchups: Texas, Pitt/Maryland, UNC, Gonzaga and Missouri. The Illini should split in New York, beat UNC at home and split Gonzaga/Missouri. Anything more is a bonus; anything less is a bummer. The UIC game in Chicago knocks the grade from a B-plus to a B. Regardless, it's a schedule befitting a Top 25 team."
2010-11 Illini Basketball Schedule
(All times C-U)
Preseason
Oct. 24 O&B Scrimmage Assembly Hall 4 p.m.
Oct. 29 Lewis (Exh.) Assembly Hall 7 p.m. BTN.com
Nov. 2 So. Indiana (Exh.) Assembly Hall 7 p.m. BTN.com
Regular season
Nov. 8 UC Irvine Assembly Hall 7 p.m. ESPN3.com
Nov. 10 Toledo Assembly Hall 7 p.m. ESPN3.com
Nov. 13 Southern Illinois Assembly Hall 7 p.m. BTN
Nov. 18 vs. Texas New York 8 p.m. ESPN2
Nov. 19 vs. Pitt/Maryland New York 6 p.m./4 p.m ESPN2
Nov. 23 Yale Assembly Hall 8:45 p.m. ESPNU
Nov. 27 at W. Michigan Kalamazoo, Mich. 1 p.m.
Nov. 30 North Carolina Assembly Hall 8:30 p.m. ESPN
Dec. 4 vs. Gonzaga Seattle 4 p.m. ESPN
Dec. 8 Oakland Assembly Hall 7 p.m. BTN.com
Dec. 12 No. Colorado Assembly Hall 5 p.m. BTN
Dec. 18 vs. UIC Chicago 1 p.m. BTN
Dec. 22 vs. Missouri St. Louis 8 p.m. ESPN2
Dec. 29 at Iowa Iowa City, Iowa 8 p.m. BTN
Jan. 2 Wisconsin Assembly Hall 5 p.m. BTN
Jan. 6 Northwestern Assembly Hall 8 p.m. ESPN2
Jan. 11 at Penn State State College, Pa. 8 p.m. BTN
Jan. 15 at Wisconsin Madison, Wis. 2 p.m. BTN
Jan. 18 Michigan State Assembly Hall 6 p.m. ESPN
Jan. 22 Ohio State Assembly Hall 11 a.m. CBS
Jan. 27 at Indiana Bloomington, Ind. 8 p.m. BTN
Feb. 1 Penn State Assembly Hall 8 p.m. BTN
Feb. 5 at Northwestern Evanston Noon CBS
Feb. 10 at Minnesota Minneapolis 8 p.m. ESPN/ESPN2
Feb. 13 Purdue Assembly Hall Noon CBS
Feb. 16 Michigan Assembly Hall 7:30 p.m. BTN
Feb. 19 at Michigan State East Lansing, Mich. 8 p.m. ESPN
Feb. 22 at Ohio State Columbus, Ohio 6 p.m. ESPN
Feb. 26/27 Iowa Assembly Hall TBA TBA
March 1 at Purdue West Lafayette, Ind. 6 p.m. ESPN
March 5/6 Indiana Assembly Hall TBA TBA
Postseason
March 10-13 Big Ten tournament Indianapolis TBA TBA
March 15-16 NCAA first round TBA TBA TruTV
March 17-20 NCAA second round TBA TBA CBS
March 24-27 NCAA regionals TBA TBA CBS
April 2 & 4 NCAA Final Four Houston TBA CBS
Jan. 2 is a Sunday, so I shouldn't have any problem making the game after the holiday. 5 p.m. works out great, I can grab an early dinner, and still get my kids home at a reasonable time.
One thing Klee didn't point out is that UC Irvine and Toldeo are part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, so Illinois was forced to play those games. Really, there are only 2 games where the other team will have a sub-100 RPI - Yale, Northern Colorado. Those games kill the RPI. Oakland's RPI last year was 52. Yale's RPI was 253 - ouch.
Seeing R/R tandem made me think "Rich y Rich" as a nickname for Richardson and Richmond. I kind of like it.
Anyway, we should be a solid 13-2 going into the Big Ten season (L's to Texas and Gonzaga), and I see 12-6 to 14-4 in the Big Ten, with L's @ MSU, @ Wisconsin, @ Ohio State and @ Purdue, but counting W's vs. all those guys at home. The ?'s for me are @ Minnesota and home vs. MSU. I think if you win those two and take care of business as you should, we could get to 14-4 and have a share of the title. A three-way share, most likely, but a share.
Let's get it on!
I think with the top 6 or 7 teams being as solid as they are, Michigan and Iowa might get 4 wins total between them. PSU may struggle mightily, though Battle will win some games on his own, and I think IU may struggle a lot too. We could have 7 teams with solid seasons, and 4 with compete nightmares.
I like Rich & Rich but i see the UNC game as being the first real test- Texas/Pitt/Maryland i think we can handle. the Mizzou game is another....but the Gazs i think we will be them pretty good to show everyone what kind of talent we are working with and wake up and open a lot of eyes. If the Illini can give what they gave last year - then the addition of JRich will put us over in a lot of games/////just think adding 12 to 15 points and 8 rebounds and 4 to all of our games last year............
Comments
IlliniHQ.com embraces discussion of Illini sports. We welcome you to contribute your ideas, opinions and comments, but we ask that you avoid personal attacks, vulgarity and hate speech. we reserve the right to remove any comment at its discretion, and we will block repeat offenders' accounts. To post comments, you must first be a registered user, and your username will appear with any comment you post. Happy posting.