Illinois gets its first live test of the 2026-27 season on Saturday afternoon, and the opener comes with some real bite. The Illini will face Cincinnati in an exhibition game at 4 p.m. CT in Cincinnati, with no television coverage.
This is also a fresh start for the Bearcats. Wes Miller’s five-year run ended last season without an NCAA Tournament berth, and Cincinnati turned the program over to Jerrod Calhoun, a Cincinnati graduate who arrived after two seasons at Utah State. Calhoun won back-to-back NCAA Tournament bids with the Aggies and previously spent seven seasons as the head coach at Youngstown State.
He inherited a roster that looks almost entirely rebuilt. Cincinnati’s transfer class includes 13 players, and four came with Calhoun from Utah State.
The group is led by guard MJ Collins, who averaged 17.5 points per game last season, and sophomore guard Elijah Perryman. Collins’ eligibility had been in flux as he sought a fifth year, but he was deemed eligible as of Tuesday and can play against Illinois.
The transfer haul also features Tulsa guard Tylen Riley, Wake Forest forward Myles Colvin, who previously played at Purdue, Towson forward Tyler Tejada, Boston College center Jayden Hastings and North Dakota State transfer Trevian Carson. Per 247Sports, Cincinnati’s transfer class is ranked No. 23 nationally.
Cincinnati already gave a preview of what this team can do in its early-October exhibition against Ohio State. Without Collins, the Bearcats started Perryman, Carson, Colvin, Tejada and Hastings. That group handled the Buckeyes with a 49-33 second half and rolled to a 79-68 win at a neutral site.
Riley was the headline act off the bench, scoring 23 points and going 11-for-16 at the free-throw line while adding three assists. Tejada chipped in 17 points, five rebounds and three steals, and Hastings finished with 16 points and six rebounds. Cincinnati also controlled the glass, beating Ohio State 45-35 in rebounds, and forced 16 turnovers while limiting the Buckeyes to 40.7 percent shooting.
The Bearcats struggled from deep at 4-for-19, but Ohio State was just as cold, hitting 4-for-23 from three. Given that the game was played outdoors, those numbers come with a clear asterisk.
Still, the bigger takeaway is easy to see. Cincinnati plays with force, brings plenty of physicality - it was whistled for 27 fouls against Ohio State - and has enough individual talent to make life difficult for Illinois. KenPom’s preseason projection has the Bearcats at No. 31 nationally with the No. 16 defense, a sign that Brad Underwood’s team is getting an early challenge on both ends.
The matchup should tell Illinois plenty about the boards, one-on-one defense and whether the offense can operate as a team against a disruptive opponent. It will also offer the first look at how the Illini handle a road setting.
That said, the caution flag stays up. It’s an exhibition. Nothing goes in the win-loss column, and it’s only the first step in a long season.
For a little context, Cincinnati beat Michigan 100-98 in a preseason game last year. Cincinnati didn’t make the NCAA Tournament. Michigan won the national title.
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The appeal is easy to see from the pro side: Mirkovic brings size, shooting and playmaking, the sort of offensive package scouts love to dream on. The bigger question for Illinois fans is how that translates when the athletes get bigger, faster and more unforgiving at the next level, especially with concerns about his athleticism on defense and around the rim. Vecenies outlook says the upside is real, but it also leaves open the issue that will matter most in the months ahead: whether Mirkovic can answer those doubts well enough to keep climbing. [Read more 🡒]