Illinois basketball is almost back. The home schedule is loaded. Football is 3-3 and frustrating me every Saturday. I’m ready to be back in State Farm Center.
This isn’t a ranking of the six most important home games. It’s the six I’m most excited to attend.
Maybe it’s a big opponent. Maybe there’s an NBA prospect I want to see. Maybe Scottie Pippen’s kid is playing. Maybe it’s just November, and I’ve spent seven months without Illinois basketball.
Here we go.
6. Fairleigh Dickinson — Nov. 2
Why am I excited to see Fairleigh Dickinson?
Because it’s Nov. 2, and there will be an Illinois basketball game happening in front of me.
That’s it.
There are only so many times during an offseason I can look at roster updates, watch clips of new guys and convince myself that THIS is definitely the year before I need to see an actual basketball game.
FDU is the first one that counts.
They could play the Washington Generals on opening night, and I’d probably have them sixth on this list.
5. Penn State — Dec. 12
Now the games start getting real.
Illinois actually opens Big Ten play four days earlier at Minnesota, but Penn State is the first conference team coming to Champaign.
And there’s just something about that first Big Ten home game.
By this point, Illinois will have already played Texas Tech, Duke and UConn. We’ll have had more than a month to wildly overreact to every good and bad thing this team does.
Then Penn State comes to town, and conference season is officially in the building.
Penn State basically rebuilt its roster, but there’s one guy I’m interested in seeing: Roko Prkačin.
He’s a 6-foot-8 Croatian (my friend Luke will probably love that) who has already played professional basketball in Europe and for Croatia’s senior national team.
So while most college players were worrying about chemistry homework, this guy was playing grown men overseas.
That’s interesting.
But let’s not overcomplicate this.
It’s the Big Ten home opener.
That’s why it’s here.
4. Michigan State — Feb. 5
Michigan State could show up with five random dudes from the East Lansing YMCA, and I’d probably still want to go. It’s Michigan State. It’s Tom Izzo. It’s Illinois. It’s Friday night at State Farm Center.
But they don’t have five random YMCA guys.
They have Jeremy Fears Jr.
And that guy is a problem.
Fears averaged 15.2 points and 9.4 assists, along with, unofficially, a concerning number of trips and groin shots last season.
Seriously, what does this guy have against ankles and future children?
Illinois got the full Jeremy Fears experience last year when he went for 26 points and 15 assists in Michigan State’s overtime win over the Illini.
Now he’s the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year.
Michigan State also has Coen Carr, who is basically what happens when somebody maxes out the athleticism sliders in 2K.
But Fears is the guy I want to watch.
There’s also a little revenge factor here.
You can’t come in, drop 26 and 15 on my team and expect me to forget about it. Here’s hoping the Illini wear their protective cups and do something about it this season.
3. UCLA — Feb. 2
We’re a couple of years into this now, and I still haven’t completely processed UCLA being in the Big Ten. UCLA. Los Angeles. Big Ten. Whatever. I’m just going to accept it.
And I’m especially willing to accept it when they bring somebody like Nikola Kusturica to Champaign. Remember that name.
Kusturica is a 6-foot-9 Serbian wing who came through FC Barcelona’s basketball system and absolutely destroyed the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup.
He averaged 24.6 points and 6.9 rebounds.
Then Serbia played Team USA in the gold-medal game, and he scored 37 freaking points.
He’s so young that he isn’t even eligible for the 2027 NBA Draft.
We’re talking 2028. And there are already people putting him near the top of that draft class.
Now, projecting an NBA Draft two years in advance is basically basketball astrology, so who knows what happens between now and then?
But that’s exactly why I want to see him.
There’s a chance we’re sitting in Champaign watching a future top-five NBA pick before most people in America know who he is.
If he becomes a star, I get to be annoying five years from now and tell people I watched him play at State Farm Center when he was a teenager.
That’s worth the price of admission by itself.
2. Ohio State — Jan. 9
First, there’s Anthony Thompson.
He’s a 6-foot-9 five-star freshman, a McDonald’s All-American and one of the top recruits in the country.
He’s Ohio State’s highest-rated recruit since Jared Sullinger.
That’s saying something.
He’s already showing up on 2027 NBA Draft boards, so there’s a legitimate chance we’re watching a future first-round pick.
Then things get fun.
Ohio State has Justin Pippen.
Scottie Pippen’s son.
And Justin can actually play. He averaged 14.2 points and 4.6 assists at Cal last year before transferring to Ohio State.
Then they have Myles Herro.
Tyler Herro’s little brother.
They also have one of my favorites to watch, John Mobley Jr., who averaged 15.7 points last season while shooting better than 41% from 3-point range.
So we’re getting a five-star future NBA prospect, Scottie Pippen’s kid, Tyler Herro’s brother and one of the better returning guards in the Big Ten.
It’s also Illinois-Ohio State.
That is an easy No. 2 for me.
1. USC — Jan. 27
This roster is ridiculous.
Let’s start with Alijah Arenas.
Gilbert Arenas’ son.
And if you’re around my age, Gilbert Arenas was one of those guys you absolutely remember.
Agent Zero.
Dude was pulling up from everywhere before everybody in the NBA decided they needed to shoot 10 3s a game.
Now his 6-foot-7 son is coming to Champaign.
Alijah was a five-star recruit and has legitimate NBA potential himself. His freshman season got derailed by a terrifying car accident and later a knee injury, but once he actually got healthy, you could see why he had so much hype.
That’s already enough to make USC interesting.
Then they added Christian Collins, a 6-foot-9 McDonald’s All-American and one of the best freshmen in the country.
USC also has Adonis and Darius Ratliff. They’re twins. They’re the sons of Theo Ratliff. Adonis is 6-foot-11. Darius is 7 feet. Both were McDonald’s All-Americans.
So USC is coming to State Farm Center with three sons of former NBA All-Stars on the same roster.
Gilbert Arenas’ kid.
Theo Ratliff’s two giant kids.
Plus Christian Collins.
Plus Rodney Rice.
Plus KJ Lewis.
Plus Jacob Cofie, another 6-foot-10 guy who has gotten some NBA attention.
This isn’t a college basketball roster. This is the cast of a basketball movie where every character gets introduced with a graphic explaining who his dad is.
And that’s exactly why it’s No. 1.
I want to see these guys in person.
Again, these aren’t necessarily the six biggest home games.
I’m ready for Nov. 2.
I’m ready to walk back into State Farm Center.
I’m ready to convince myself after one 12-0 run against Fairleigh Dickinson that Illinois is winning the national championship.
College basketball is almost back.
Thank God.