Illini Basketball 2026-2027

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#326      
Fighter of the Nightman
Also, random trivia ... but if our trip to Durham constitutes a top 5 matchup as we expect (hope), we should all appreciate how incredibly rare and awesome that is ... as far as I can tell, we have only played in 12 top 5 regular season matchups EVER and only 6 in the last 40 years.

Good news is that once we add in the postseason, we have actually won 4 of the last 6 top 5 matchups in which we have played. 🤪

2020-2021
W 82-71 vs. #5 Iowa (ILL #3) [BTT Semifinals - Indianapolis, IN]
W 76-53 at #2 Michigan (ILL #4)
L 69-82 vs. #2 Baylor (ILL #5) [Indianapolis, IN]

2004-2005
L 70-75 vs. #3 North Carolina (ILL #1) [NCAAT Championship - St. Louis, MO]
W 72-57 vs. #4 Louisville (ILL #1) [NCAAT Final Four - St. Louis, MO]
W 91-73 vs. #1 Wake Forest (ILL #5)

2001-2002
L 63-76 at #5 Maryland (ILL #2)

2000-2001
L 81-87 vs. #5 Arizona (ILL #4) [NCAAT Elite Eight - San Antonio, TX]

1989-1990
W 101-93 vs #4 Missouri (ILL #5) [St. Louis, MO]

1986-1987
L 77-90 at #4 North Carolina (ILL #5)

1984-1985
W 81-64 vs. #5 Oklahoma (ILL #2) [Springfield, MA]

1978-1979
W 57-55 vs. #1 Michigan State (ILL #4)

1962-1963
L 53-62 vs. #1 Cincinnati (ILL #4) [Chicago, IL]
W 90-78 vs. #5 Ohio State (ILL #5) ... guess we were tied??

1951-1952
W 74-68 vs. #4 Duquesne (ILL #2) [NCAAT Elite Eight - Chicago, IL]
W 78-62 vs. #4 Iowa (ILL #5)
W 78-66 vs. #4 Indiana (ILL #2)

1950-1951
L 74-76 vs. #1 Kentucky (ILL #5) [NCAAT Final Four - New York, NY]
W 79-71 vs. #3 Columbia (ILL #5) [NCAAT Sweet Sixteen - New York, NY]

1948-1949
L 47-76 vs. #1 Kentucky (ILL #4) [NCAAT Final Four - New York, NY]
 
#330      
IllinoisGrad0609
I can't believe some of these ticket prices. 135.00 140.00 for a single ticket?? Its college basketball!! What a slap in the face to your fans who are priced out who supported the program through the bad years
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I see you posted on Reddit, as well.
 
#331      
IlliniSaluki
RabidDawgClassic said:
You can sign up for the entire season (six months) $44.99 or go month to month for $12.99 per month ($38.97 for all Illinois Big+ games).

The $44.98 option does not automatically renew, so you don’t have to worry about cancelling. The $12.99 option renews monthly until you cancel.
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I prefer the monthly/yearly option because it includes all sports/schools. You used to pay just for your school and hockey was an addon. Now it's all sports/schools including hockey.
 
#332      
whatahack
I'm thinking about going to the Penn state game on 12 December. It's been forever since I've been to a game.

Should I buy a parking pass or Uber it...
 
#333      
Second place is 1st loser
moonpies said:
I can't believe some of these ticket prices. 135.00 140.00 for a single ticket?? Its college basketball!! What a slap in the face to your fans who are priced out who supported the program through the bad years
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College basketball is now a professional league. Fans are watching million dollar salaries running up and down the floor. It's the cost of doing business and just like the NFL, NBA, MLB....that cost is pushed onto the fans via ticket prices, jerseys and concessions.

Do you want a program that can pay for the top talent and compete for Final Fours and National Championships? Hand over the money with a smile on your face.
 
#341      
FGCUIllini
CoalCity said:
5/15 is "all a bunch of Euros"?
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I'd say 33% of the roster being Euro-born players qualifies as a "Bunch." However, according to ChatGPT, it is not a "Whole Bunch," as is the case with;

California Baptist University (8 - Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Serbia, Germany (2), England, Croatia)

or

St. John’s University (7 - Greece (2), England, Sweden, Hungary, Portugal, Serbia)

Illinois ties with 5 other schools that also have 5 (Euro-born players) on their team. Those schools are: Virginia Military Institute (VMI), Fresno State, Penn State, San Diego State, and Cal State Bakersfield.

VMI surprised me, being a military academy with foreign-born players on the roster and the known post-college military service requirement. However, I also understand they likely have some sort of exception for foreign athletic recruits/players, etc.

UPDATE: Foreign-born athletes do not take the same U.S.-citizen path or incur the U.S. post-graduation service obligation. They enter through a separate international cadet/midshipman program: their home country nominates them, and after graduation they return home to fulfill that country’s service obligation rather than being commissioned into the U.S. Armed Forces.

Disclaimer: I treated “European-born” geographically rather than simply “international.” Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, South America, etc., are excluded. I also did not automatically count transcontinental countries such as Turkey or Georgia unless the listed birthplace is clearly in geographic Europe.
 
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#342      
Curbelo Fanboy
Second place is 1st loser said:
College basketball is now a professional league. Fans are watching million dollar salaries running up and down the floor. It's the cost of doing business and just like the NFL, NBA, MLB....that cost is pushed onto the fans via ticket prices, jerseys and concessions.

Do you want a program that can pay for the top talent and compete for Final Fours and National Championships? Hand over the money with a smile on your face.
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Exactly. I'd rather be priced out of the elite games cause the team is so damn good they demand top dollar than to be able to logon to ticketmaster & get into a conference game for $10. I'll take that trade off 24/7/365. Just save up the coin in case they get to the promised land & I'll buy merch instead of tickets.
 
#343      
HoopsterMan
5/15 is "all a bunch of Euros"?
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Would predominantly suffice? 4 starters and a key member off the bench likely constitutes a healthy amount of one profile.
 
#344      
wc_illini
Curbelo Fanboy said:
Exactly. I'd rather be priced out of the elite games cause the team is so damn good they demand top dollar than to be able to logon to ticketmaster & get into a conference game for $10. I'll take that trade off 24/7/365. Just save up the coin in case they get to the promised land & I'll buy merch instead of tickets.
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Agree. And don't we want them to generate more revenue to reinvest in the program? Plus, the alternative is that they sell out that much quicker.
 
#345      
RollChief
Curbelo Fanboy said:
Exactly. I'd rather be priced out of the elite games cause the team is so damn good they demand top dollar than to be able to logon to ticketmaster & get into a conference game for $10. I'll take that trade off 24/7/365. Just save up the coin in case they get to the promised land & I'll buy merch instead of tickets.
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Yep... Have you seen how much it's going to cost to get a ticket for Illinois vs. Duke at Cameron Indoor? I think UNC vs Duke tickets are usually $1,400 just to get in...

But it's also hard to blame the program's success or CBB as a whole for the skyrocketing ticket prices. The inflation of ticket prices (across the board, in CBB but also for professional games, concerts, etc.) probably has a lot more to do with the ease of buying/selling and the resale/scalping market that Ticketmaster and others opened the floodgates on, and the fees they're getting paid to do so, than it does with the players getting paid...
 
#346      
ptgrd23
Exactly. I'd rather be priced out of the elite games cause the team is so damn good they demand top dollar than to be able to logon to ticketmaster & get into a conference game for $10. I'll take that trade off 24/7/365. Just save up the coin in case they get to the promised land & I'll buy merch instead of tickets.
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last year I bought great UCLA tickets at list price $75 each. The seats were available mid season for 12,000 seat Pauley Pavillion. The fans base was 50% Illini.

I am glad to pay the higher prices. I live in SoCal so I flew into NYC for Duke 2024, Indy FF 2026. I will fly in for UConn 2026 Chicago and UNC 2027 Nashville.

I was looking forward to crushing UCLA at Rose Bowl in November with 30,000 Illini fans but now I am VERY nervous. I still have PTSD from 1984.
 
#348      
Calvin
moonpies said:
I can't believe some of these ticket prices. 135.00 140.00 for a single ticket?? Its college basketball!! What a slap in the face to your fans who are priced out who supported the program through the bad years
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I sympathize, truly. But a bad team and low prices go hand in hand.
The Illini are among the very best this year, or I should say, expected to be among the very best. Only you can decide if it's worth it, but if you go, forget the price you paid and enjoy the spectacle.
 
#350      
hoopsfan47
Joel Goodson said:
who could have seen it?
https://twitter.com/x/status/2111170318379184139
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What I like is that Tomi is not seen on the list of top returnees....but has the skills and size to dominate the B1G in the post. That is no certainty, but there is no more motivated player in any collegiate sport than a talented guy in his last year who has been sick/injured and shunned. I know that for certain and hope Tomi is healthy and determined to help lead this team into history.
 
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