Coach Brad Underwood's Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team is scheduled to open the 2026-27 season at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill. against the Fairleigh-Dickinson Knights, a team with a lot to prove that will be a decided underdog. 

The Fighting Illini will likely be without Preseason All-American David Mirkovic against the Knights, and will have to rely on a patchwork lineup that may feature at least two freshmen, Quentin Coleman and Ethan Brown.

Mirkovic gained fame and notoriety for his exciting freshman season, including the preseason honors, but the Fighting Illini are counting on more than one player to lead them this season, employing a strength-in-numbers approach that has been on full display during the exhibition season. 

Former Illinois star Brandon Paul spoke about what he's seen from the team ahead of the new season, and it sounds like good news for Illini fans. 

Former Illini guard Brandon Paul was a Third-Team All-Big Ten selection during his days in Champaign, Ill. and has become a fan of Underwood's team.

He spoke about them recently, painting the picture of a team-oriented group with a lot of cohesion and other strengths. 

"The team's resiliency, they brought a few guys back, but they've got a lot of new faces," Paul said according to Tristan Thomas of WCIA-3 of Champaign.

"It seems like they mesh well together, they've got good camaraderie and they're playing their a--es off, so it's good to see that," the former Illinois guard added. 

The Fighting Illini went 2-1 during the exhibition season, beating Cincinnati on the road before splitting games against Baylor (loss) and the University of Illinois-Chicago Flames (win). The outcome of the Baylor game was a disappointing one for an ultra-competitive squad led by the freshman Coleman, but the games weren't must-wins by any stretch of the imagination and were mostly for practice before the season. 

The Fighting Illini are a massive favorite against the Knights according to basketball scribe Ken Pomeroy, but the game wasn't listed on sportsbooks yet as of the early hours of Saturday morning. Pomeroy has predicted a 34-win point Illini win over FDU. 

The sports betting app Kalshi gave the Illini a 99% chance to win, which seems like a fair assessment given the huge talent gap between the two teams, as large as the percentage is heading into Nov. 2's clash. 

If all goes according to plan, Illinois will build a huge lead in the first half, giving Underwood a chance to empty his bench and get his backups some game reps with depth an issue in the absence of Mirkovic.

The Fighting Illini know that anything can, and often does, happen in the game of college basketball, an important thing to remember as game time draws near.