news-engine

Click here to celebrate the Illini's run to the Final Four (posters, books) Sign up for our daily basketball newsletter here Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey. He’ll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood’s team and college basketball at large: Illinois released its 2026-27 nonconference schedule last Friday. It wasn't quite the "Friday afternoon news dump," but was at least adjacent to that ol' chestnut. Maybe choosing that particular time was an attempt to not draw attention to the fact there will be zero non-Big Ten power conferences playing at State Farm Center in games that count. Either way, the only games not known before last Friday were Illinois' three exhibitions. Like we did in this space for the dozen nonconference regular season games, let's take a look at the Illini's October opponents: Cincinnati Plenty of teams are counting on an assist from the judiciary in the run up to the 2026-27 season, with fifth-year eligibility in limbo for players in the Class of 2022. That group includes Cincinnati guard MJ Collins, who followed first-year coach Jerrod Calhoun from Utah State to the "Queen City." At the moment, Collins is ineligible, with judicial stays in place for injunctions at both the federal level and in the case in Ohio that initially granted the 6-foot-4 guard a fifth season. Collins could be Cincinnati's best player coming off a breakout 2025-26 season with the Aggies where he averaged a career-best 17.5 points on 49/36/81 shooting and earned All-Mountain West Conference Second Team honors. Without Collins, the Bearcats will have to turn to other transfers to lead the way like Myles Colvin (Wake Forest via Purdue) and Tylen Riley (Tulsa via Cal Baptist). Baylor April was a good month for Baylor coach Scott Drew. First came news that Penn State transfer Kayden Mingo was Waco, Texas, bound after averaging 13.7 points, 4.3 assists and 3.5 rebounds for the Nittany Lions as a freshman. Ten days later his younger brother Dylan, a five-star prospect in the Class of 2026, also committed to the Bears. A far better April than a year ago when Drew got out-bid for his own point guard when Rob Wright III bolted for BYU. Was that the only reason Baylor went 17-17 and finished 13th in the Big 12 last season? Not solely, but it basically finished off a near 100 percent roster reset and turned the Bears into more of a Cameron Carr and Tounde Yessoufou go get a bucket for themselves team. The Mingo brothers will help anchor anew-look backcourt this season that should also feature returning sophomore Isaac Williams. UIC The Flames started last season 5-10 with a mix of reasonable (High Point, Yale, Belmont, Northern Iowa) and not so great (Arkansas Pine Bluff, Charlotte) losses. Then they 14-6 the rest of the way before their season ended in the first round of the NIT with a loss at California. That's all to say four of UIC's top five scorers from that team are back — led by guards Ahmad Henderson II and Andy Johnson — with some intriguing transfer reinforcements. The portal delivered Stanford guard Benny Gealer and Furman's Asa Thomas, who shot 41 percent and 39 percent, respectively, from three-point range last season. It's not a stretch to call the Flames favorites in the Missouri Valley Conference even if most would default to Murray State, Belmont or Illinois State.