LUBBOCK, TX – Texas Tech and Illinois have agreed to a home-and-home series beginning with the first-ever meeting between the two men’s basketball programs on Nov. 11, 2025, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois.
The return game is scheduled for the 2026-27 season in Lubbock on a date to be determined. The 2025 matchup marks the first officially announced non-conference game for the Red Raiders’ 2025-26 schedule. Game time and television details will be announced at a later date.
Texas Tech is coming off a 28-9 season that included a 15-5 mark in Big 12 Conference play and the program’s third appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight. The Red Raiders finished ranked No. 8 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and USA TODAY Coaches Poll and are ranked in the top 10 in multiple early preseason projections.
Under third-year head coach Grant McCasland, Texas Tech owns a 51-20 record and has made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. The Red Raiders are 1-0 against Big Ten opponents during McCasland’s tenure, defeating Michigan 73-57 in the 2023 Battle 4 Atlantis.
Illinois, led by head coach Brad Underwood, went 22-13 last season, including a 12-8 record in Big Ten play and a 13-4 mark at home. The Illini reached the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, defeating Xavier before falling to Kentucky. Underwood, entering his ninth season at Illinois, is 165-101 with the Illini and 217-126 overall as a head coach.
Both programs are projected to begin the 2025-26 season ranked in or near the top 25 in national polls.
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