One of the most-discussed topics around Illinois basketball over the past six months or so – aside from the team’s roster turnover and brilliant first-year talent – has been the schedule. Coach Brad Underwood knew that his 2024-25 Illini would have a chance to be very good – but likely with a small window in which to do it. He knew he needed to test them early.

Two more things: First, he knew Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. who led his teams to 17 consecutive NCAA Tournaments across stints at Clemson and Texas, and for whom Underwood had a front-row seat while serving on the Kansas State staff from to 2007-2012. And the other thing?

Underwood knew that iron sharpens iron.

So when he got together with Barnes to schedule the Volunteers for Saturday’s game at Champaign’s State Farm Center (4:30 p.m. CT, on FOX), Underwood had no idea they would be lining up a marquee weekend-afternoon matchup with the No. 1 team in the country. Many of the pieces just fell into place. What the Illini coach knew was that the Vols gave him a chance to line up his guys against some of the toughest mugs he knew in a Pizza Hut parking lot throwdown.

“To be really honest, when Rick and I set the this up, I jumped at it,” Underwood said after Illinois’ Tuesday home win over Wisconsin. “I couldn’t wait, because I have I’ve known Rick for a long time, knowing when he was at Texas and in the [Big 12] and had [Kevin] Durant and that whole crew, and I know how hard he gets his teams to play. I know how demanding he is as a coach. He’s won so many games. He’s won at every stop. So what better way to prepare my team?”

If somehow that had slipped below Underwood’s radar previously, he got a reminder last season, when his then-20th-ranked Illini visited Knoxville and took their lumps against the then-No. 17 Vols, who outrebounded Illinois and held it to 35.4 percent shooting from the floor to win 86-79.

“It was a hard fought game. They won. And, you know, he’s always going to have a good team,” Underwood said of Barnes, whose 815 career wins ranks him No. 13 on the all-time list. “He’s got resources. He’s got guys back. What better way to help us? And it just so happens now that they’re No. 1. You know, they were always going to probably be top 10.

“But that’s the tremendous respect I have for Rick and the job he’s done. And I think it’s a great opportunity for our basketball team to play against a great team, who just happens to be No. 1.”

Knocking off the NCAA’s top-ranked team – which Illinois has pulled off only three other times in its history – would be fun for the fans and a hell of an attention-grabbed for recruits and the NCAA Tournament committee. Underwood knows, among other things, the importance of those factors.

“But they’re also a team that can be in that national championship conversation,” he said.

And as he has become so fond of saying, that’s the new standard in Champaign. If the Illini want to be part of that conversation, here and now is where and when they prove it.

How to Watch: Illinois Basketball vs. No. 1 Tennessee (Game 10)

ESPN Prediction for Illinois Basketball vs. No. 1 Tennessee

Key Matchup: Illinois vs. Tennessee – the Battle of the Backcourts

Is there anything the Tennessee Volunteers are not good at? Like … anything? They could probably hoop blindfolded. They probably get together as a team every morning and nail NYT Games on first guess.

Tennessee is the top-ranked team in the AP poll. It is second in adjusted defense. It’s making 63 percent of its 2-pointers, the best mark in the country, and has won every game by at least 13 points. Can the Vols keep it up? A road trip to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini will serve as one of their tougher early-season tests.

No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers at Illinois Fighting Illini

Venue: State Farm Center — Champaign, Ill.
Time: 5:30 p.m. ET Saturday
TV: FOX
Stream college basketball on Fubo (try for free)

Chaz Lanier is shooting 48.6 percent on 3-pointers on eight tries per night. The fifth-year senior transferred from North Florida, and the Volunteers very much enjoy his quick release and confidence on pin-downs. Lanier also has a springy first step and a fun pump fake to his game.

His teammate, Zakai Zeigler, leads the SEC with more than eight assists a game. He’s an eminently enjoyable college basketball player to watch, clever in facilitation and tough on defense despite his 5-foot-9 frame. He and Jahmai Mashack are irritants on the perimeter, combining for more than four steals a game. Rick Barnes’ team is experienced, with a starting lineup featuring four seniors and a junior. The Volunteers are also high on the title odds board and currently sit at +1400 to win it all at BetMGM.

Illinois looks like it has a potential lottery-pick talent in freshman Kasparas Jakučionis. He slotted in at No. 6 in The Athletic’s first mock draft. The Lithuanian guard is a natural playmaker with a feel for the game, save for a slight turnover problem. He’s shooting 49 percent from the field and 44 percent on 3-pointers — not bad for his first nine collegiate games.

Jakučionis is just the second Division-I freshman in the last decade to put up a four-game stretch with at least 80 points, 25 rebounds, 20 assists and 15 treys. The other was Trae Young.

He leads an Illini group with just one bad loss (Northwestern) and a pair of solid wins (Arkansas, Wisconsin). Brad Underwood’s group is 15th in KenPom rating and 11th in Basketball Reference’s simple rating system. The Illini lead the Big Ten in offensive boards and 3-point tries.

Tennessee is favored, but Illinois is a tough out at home. The Volunteers won this matchup last year in Knoxville, 86-79.

Memorable matchup: Dec. 12, 1985 — Tennessee triumphed, 54-51. Fred Jenkins led all scorers with 21. Illinois’ Tony Wysinger put up 14 points and two steals in defeat.

Tennessee vs. Illinois odds

Odds to come

(Photo of Zakai Zeigler: Johnnie Izquierdo / Getty Images)