The Chicago Bulls finally know what their road to the 2026-27 season will look like.

The NBA released its complete regular-season schedule on August 13, giving Chicago fans their first opportunity to circle the games that could define Tiago Splitter’s first season as head coach.

The Bulls will open the season on the road against the Toronto Raptors on October 21 before returning home for their United Center opener against No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa and the Washington Wizards on October 24.

But beyond opening night, there are several matchups that stand out.

With a new coaching staff, a revamped roster and a young core headlined by Matas Buzelis and fourth overall pick Caleb Wilson, these games will provide Chicago with some of its first meaningful tests against teams with very different styles and levels of contention.

Here are five of the most anticipated matchups on the Bulls’ schedule.

If there is one team that will provide the Bulls with an immediate measuring stick, it is the defending NBA champion New York Knicks.

Chicago will host New York on Oct. 28 before traveling to Madison Square Garden on Nov. 4. The teams will meet for a third time Dec. 1 in Chicago, with that matchup receiving national television treatment on NBC.

The Knicks are coming off a championship season, making these games an opportunity for Chicago to see exactly how far it has to go.

For Wilson and Buzelis in particular, these matchups should provide an interesting test. New York's size, physicality and defensive versatility can force young players to make quick decisions, while the Knicks' offensive personnel can put significant pressure on a developing defense.

The most interesting part may be the adjustments between games.

Chicago will see New York twice within an eight-day span before getting another matchup later in the season. That gives Splitter and his staff multiple opportunities to identify what works, make adjustments and see whether the young Bulls can execute those changes.

For a team trying to establish a new identity, there may not be a better measuring stick.

The Bulls will get an early look at one of the NBA's most star-studded rosters when they travel to Philadelphia to play the Sixers on Nov. 2.

The 76ers added Jaylen Brown and LeBron James to a roster that already features Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, creating one of the league's most intriguing collections of individual talent.

Whether Philadelphia's new-look roster ultimately fits together remains one of the biggest questions in the Eastern Conference.

For Chicago, though, this game should be a fascinating defensive examination.

The Bulls will potentially have to deal with multiple high-level creators and scorers who attack the game in completely different ways. How Chicago handles Maxey's speed, Embiid's interior presence, Brown's physicality and James' playmaking could reveal a lot about the team's defensive structure.

It will also be one of Wilson's first opportunities to see what the NBA looks like against a roster loaded with established stars.

The Victor Wembanyama matchup is an obvious one to circle.

San Antonio will visit the United Center on Nov. 11 before hosting Chicago again on Dec. 18.

Wembanyama presents one of the most difficult matchup problems in basketball because of his combination of length, shooting ability, rim protection and mobility.

For Chicago, this game will test both sides of the ball.

Defensively, the Bulls will have to find a way to limit an elite offensive hub without constantly compromising their perimeter defense. Offensively, they will have to figure out how to generate quality shots against one of the league's premier rim protectors.

That makes this an especially interesting matchup for Wilson.

The rookie's athleticism and ability to play above the rim could give Chicago some interesting options, but facing Wembanyama is a completely different challenge from dominating Summer League competition.

The Spurs are also coming off a Western Conference Finals appearance, making this another early benchmark for where Chicago stands against the league's best.

One of the most anticipated games at the United Center won't necessarily be about the Bulls' young core.

It will be about a familiar face.

Former Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu will return to Chicago on Jan. 14 as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Bulls will first face Minnesota on the road Nov. 14 before hosting the Timberwolves two months later.

Dosunmu spent the first several seasons of his NBA career with his hometown Bulls after being selected in the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft.

Now, he'll return to the United Center after signing a significant contract with Minnesota this offseason.

The basketball side of the matchup is interesting, too.

Minnesota has reshaped its roster around Anthony Edwards and added LaMelo Ball, while Dosunmu is expected to provide depth in the backcourt. That gives Chicago an opportunity to see how its new-look roster stacks up against another young team with playoff aspirations.

But regardless of the result, Dosunmu's return should be one of the more emotional nights on Chicago's schedule.

If the Knicks represent the Eastern Conference's measuring stick, Oklahoma City could provide the ultimate test from the Western Conference.

The Bulls will travel to Oklahoma City on Jan. 31 before hosting the Thunder on Feb. 4.

The Thunder have established themselves as one of the NBA's premier young teams behind two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and their combination of length, athleticism, shooting and defensive versatility makes them an especially difficult matchup.

That makes this a valuable game for Chicago's young players.

The Bulls are attempting to build their own young core, while Oklahoma City has already turned its young talent into a legitimate contender.

That contrast makes these two games particularly intriguing.

How does Chicago's young group respond against a team that has already gone through the developmental process the Bulls are just beginning?

That may be the biggest question.

The Bulls' 2026-27 schedule is not simply a list of opponents. It is a series of tests for a franchise entering a completely different phase.

Chicago will have opportunities to measure itself against the defending champions, an emerging Western Conference powerhouse, an elite young superstar in Wembanyama and one of the most talented rosters in the league.

At the same time, games against teams closer to Chicago's current position will provide a more realistic gauge of whether the Bulls can compete for meaningful games late in the season.

The schedule includes 10 back-to-backs and only three nationally televised games, so the Bulls may not receive much national attention throughout the season.

But for Chicago, the most important games won't necessarily be the ones on national television.

They'll be the ones that show whether Buzelis, Wilson, Dailyn Swain and the rest of the young core are actually progressing.

The Bulls have spent the offseason building a new foundation.

Now, the schedule gives them 82 opportunities to show what that foundation looks like.