Illini Basketball Uniforms
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Long and random uniform post incoming to kick off the new thread! Excluding exhibition games, here is the updated list of the last time we wore each uniform! We are on a 6-game streak of wearing one of our Script throwbacks ... hopefully the 1LL1NO1S uniforms do not rear their ugly heads again now that the exhibitions are over. 
Orange Script - April 4, 2026 vs. UConn (NCAAT Final Four in Indianapolis, IN)
White Script - March 28, 2026 vs. Iowa (NCAAT Elite Eight in Houston, TX)
Orange Flyin' Illini - March 8, 2026 at Maryland
Navy Flyin' Illini - February 18, 2026 at USC
White 1LL1NO1S - February 10, 2026 vs. Wisconsin
Orange 1LL1NO1S - November 24, 2025 vs. UT Rio Grande Valley
Navy F1GHT1NG 1LL1N1 - February 21, 2024 at Penn State
Since the introduction last season of (A) the Orange Script for the LIU home game and (B) the Navy Flyin' Illini for the UConn game at MSG, our uniform pattern has thankfully featured WAY fewer instances of 1LL1NO1S than the last several years.
Home Games
Nov. 22 - Orange Script vs. LIU
Nov. 24 - Orange 1LL1NO1S vs. UT Rio Grande Valley
Dec. 13 - White Script vs. #23 Nebraska
Dec. 29 - White 1LL1NO1S vs. Southern
Jan. 8 - White Script vs. Rutgers
Jan. 17 - White 1LL1NO1S vs. Minnesota
Jan. 21 - White Script vs. Maryland
Jan. 29 - Orange Flyin' Illini vs. Washington
Feb. 4 - Orange Flyin' Illini vs. Northwestern
Feb. 10 - White 1LL1NO1S vs. Wisconsin
Feb. 15 - White Script vs. Indiana
Feb. 27 - Orange Flyin' Illini vs. #3 Michigan
March 3 - White Script vs. Oregon
Away Games
Dec. 9 - Navy Flyin' Illini at Ohio State
Jan. 3 - Orange Script at Penn State
Jan. 11 - Navy Flyin' Illini at #19 Iowa
Jan. 14 - Orange Flyin' Illini at Northwestern
Jan. 24 - Orange Script at #4 Purdue
Feb. 4 - Navy Flyin' Illini at #5 Nebraska
Feb. 7 - Orange Script at #10 Michigan State
Feb. 18 - Navy Flyin' Illini at USC
Feb. 21 - Orange Script at UCLA
March 8 - Orange Flyin' Illini at Maryland
Neutral Games
Nov. 28 - Navy Flyin' Illini vs. #5 UConn (New York, NY)
Dec. 6 - Orange Script vs. #13 Tennessee (Nashville, TN)
Dec. 22 - White Script vs. Missouri (St. Louis, MO)
March 19 - Orange Script vs. Penn (NCAAT First Round - Greenville, SC)
March 21 - Orange Script vs. VCU (NCAAT Second Round - Greenville, SC)
March 26 - Orange Script vs. #5 Houston (NCAAT Sweet Sixteen - Houston, TX)
March 28 - White Script vs. Iowa (NCAAT Elite Eight - Houston, TX)
Apr. 4 - Orange Script vs. #7 UConn (NCAAT Final Four - Indianapolis, IN)
Since I often am complaining about uniform choices, here are two positive notes after making this list:
1) I love that we are starting to wear orange as a true alternate uniform again (i.e., actually using it for some home games) rather than as strictly a road uniform. It seems like in the 2022-2025 stretch, we rarely wore orange at home except for a designated "Orange Out" game, and we hardly EVER wore navy on the road before the Navy Flyin' Illini set was introduced this year.
2) While the appearance of the 1LL1NO1S uniforms was a bummer in the exhibition games, we should really consider the progress made, lol. Excluding those two non-conference cupcake games from last year, as soon as the two new throwbacks were introduced, the 1LL1NO1S uniforms only made TWO appearances in our next 28 games, and we've refrained from using them the last 12 games in a row. Compare that to a few years ago when we were choosing to wear them in Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games, and I cannot complain too much!
As much as I obsess over our uniforms at times, I must admit that I have never really picked up on many patterns Brad and Co. utilize. Does that Mr. Biggs dude still pick our uniforms, and if so why?!
The only two clear ones I have noticed over the years are:
1) For some reason, we seem to only consider White Script as an option for Braggin' Rights ... which is strange to me, because this game just SCREAMS for a "color rush" game where neither team wears white given the 50/50 crowd setup and the two programs' colors.
2) We almost always seem to wear Orange Fyin' Illini vs. Northwestern, especially for the games in Evanston.
Lastly, I won't torture everyone with what I would prefer we wear for every single game, but I definitely have some specific uniform wish list items for this season!
1) Wear Navy Flyin' Illini for the Texas Tech game ... watching our football game at Maryland this past Saturday reminded me how much I hate looking at our orange uniforms if we are playing at a red school, haha. The navy is just a no-brainer here!
2) Please wear Orange Script for Braggin' Rights and have Mizzou wear gold or black! This game deserves a UCLA / USC aesthetic given the neutral site!
3) In general, wear the Navy Flyin' Illini for road games vs. red opponents (at Wisconsin, at Maryland, at Indiana and at Rutgers this year) and Orange Flyin' Illini or Orange Script for the other games.
And two bonus items that I do not think will happen but they'd be so epic...
1) Debut White Flyin' Illini uniforms for the UConn game at the United Center.
2) Debute Navy Script uniforms for the away game at Indiana
Orange Script - April 4, 2026 vs. UConn (NCAAT Final Four in Indianapolis, IN)
White Script - March 28, 2026 vs. Iowa (NCAAT Elite Eight in Houston, TX)
Orange Flyin' Illini - March 8, 2026 at Maryland
Navy Flyin' Illini - February 18, 2026 at USC
White 1LL1NO1S - February 10, 2026 vs. Wisconsin
Orange 1LL1NO1S - November 24, 2025 vs. UT Rio Grande Valley
Navy F1GHT1NG 1LL1N1 - February 21, 2024 at Penn State
Since the introduction last season of (A) the Orange Script for the LIU home game and (B) the Navy Flyin' Illini for the UConn game at MSG, our uniform pattern has thankfully featured WAY fewer instances of 1LL1NO1S than the last several years.
Home Games
Nov. 22 - Orange Script vs. LIU
Nov. 24 - Orange 1LL1NO1S vs. UT Rio Grande Valley
Dec. 13 - White Script vs. #23 Nebraska
Dec. 29 - White 1LL1NO1S vs. Southern
Jan. 8 - White Script vs. Rutgers
Jan. 17 - White 1LL1NO1S vs. Minnesota
Jan. 21 - White Script vs. Maryland
Jan. 29 - Orange Flyin' Illini vs. Washington
Feb. 4 - Orange Flyin' Illini vs. Northwestern
Feb. 10 - White 1LL1NO1S vs. Wisconsin
Feb. 15 - White Script vs. Indiana
Feb. 27 - Orange Flyin' Illini vs. #3 Michigan
March 3 - White Script vs. Oregon
Away Games
Dec. 9 - Navy Flyin' Illini at Ohio State
Jan. 3 - Orange Script at Penn State
Jan. 11 - Navy Flyin' Illini at #19 Iowa
Jan. 14 - Orange Flyin' Illini at Northwestern
Jan. 24 - Orange Script at #4 Purdue
Feb. 4 - Navy Flyin' Illini at #5 Nebraska
Feb. 7 - Orange Script at #10 Michigan State
Feb. 18 - Navy Flyin' Illini at USC
Feb. 21 - Orange Script at UCLA
March 8 - Orange Flyin' Illini at Maryland
Neutral Games
Nov. 28 - Navy Flyin' Illini vs. #5 UConn (New York, NY)
Dec. 6 - Orange Script vs. #13 Tennessee (Nashville, TN)
Dec. 22 - White Script vs. Missouri (St. Louis, MO)
March 19 - Orange Script vs. Penn (NCAAT First Round - Greenville, SC)
March 21 - Orange Script vs. VCU (NCAAT Second Round - Greenville, SC)
March 26 - Orange Script vs. #5 Houston (NCAAT Sweet Sixteen - Houston, TX)
March 28 - White Script vs. Iowa (NCAAT Elite Eight - Houston, TX)
Apr. 4 - Orange Script vs. #7 UConn (NCAAT Final Four - Indianapolis, IN)
Since I often am complaining about uniform choices, here are two positive notes after making this list:
1) I love that we are starting to wear orange as a true alternate uniform again (i.e., actually using it for some home games) rather than as strictly a road uniform. It seems like in the 2022-2025 stretch, we rarely wore orange at home except for a designated "Orange Out" game, and we hardly EVER wore navy on the road before the Navy Flyin' Illini set was introduced this year.
2) While the appearance of the 1LL1NO1S uniforms was a bummer in the exhibition games, we should really consider the progress made, lol. Excluding those two non-conference cupcake games from last year, as soon as the two new throwbacks were introduced, the 1LL1NO1S uniforms only made TWO appearances in our next 28 games, and we've refrained from using them the last 12 games in a row. Compare that to a few years ago when we were choosing to wear them in Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games, and I cannot complain too much!
As much as I obsess over our uniforms at times, I must admit that I have never really picked up on many patterns Brad and Co. utilize. Does that Mr. Biggs dude still pick our uniforms, and if so why?!
The only two clear ones I have noticed over the years are:1) For some reason, we seem to only consider White Script as an option for Braggin' Rights ... which is strange to me, because this game just SCREAMS for a "color rush" game where neither team wears white given the 50/50 crowd setup and the two programs' colors.
2) We almost always seem to wear Orange Fyin' Illini vs. Northwestern, especially for the games in Evanston.
Lastly, I won't torture everyone with what I would prefer we wear for every single game, but I definitely have some specific uniform wish list items for this season!
1) Wear Navy Flyin' Illini for the Texas Tech game ... watching our football game at Maryland this past Saturday reminded me how much I hate looking at our orange uniforms if we are playing at a red school, haha. The navy is just a no-brainer here!
2) Please wear Orange Script for Braggin' Rights and have Mizzou wear gold or black! This game deserves a UCLA / USC aesthetic given the neutral site!
3) In general, wear the Navy Flyin' Illini for road games vs. red opponents (at Wisconsin, at Maryland, at Indiana and at Rutgers this year) and Orange Flyin' Illini or Orange Script for the other games.
And two bonus items that I do not think will happen but they'd be so epic...
1) Debut White Flyin' Illini uniforms for the UConn game at the United Center.
2) Debute Navy Script uniforms for the away game at Indiana