REPORT: Illinois will host FDU in non-conference play

This should be fun.

After becoming just the second No. 16 seed to ever knock off a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the FDU Knights are bringing the show to Champaign this December for a 2005 Round of 64 rematch with Illinois.

Jon Rothstein first reported the game Tuesday afternoon. He said it will be played Dec. 29, likely the Illini’s final game of the 2023 calendar year.

FDU didn’t have a very long Cinderella run, losing in the Round of 32 to FAU, who later went to the Final Four.

Jack Castleberry is taking over for the Knights this season, after Tobin Anderson was poached by Iona.

We don’t know a whole ton about Illinois’ non-conference schedule just yet, but we do know there is a game in Knoxville scheduled for Dec. 9 against Tennessee. That’s part of a home-and-home series finishing in Champaign in 2024.