You know college football season is getting close when start times for games are being announced. The Illinois football program hasn’t revealed the kickoff times for all its games just yet, but on Thursday it announced game time for its first three contests of 2026.
Illinois starts the season at home on Friday, Aug. 29 (after moving the date up a day), against FCS local rival Western Illinois at 6:30 p.m. CT. It will make the first time the Illini have opened the season on a Friday since 2020, when the Illini kicked things off at Wisconsin.
Illinois plays its first road game eight days later, on Saturday, Sept. 6, against Duke. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CT. The game will be the third overall matchup between the two teams and first since the Illini beat the Blue Devils 28-14 in Champaign way back in 1965.
Illinois then returns home to Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 13, to face Western Michigan. The Illini will host the Broncos on FamILLy Day, which will begin at 6 p.m. It will be the first matchup between the teams since 2016, when Western Michigan stunned Illinois, 34-10.
Ranking the Top 5 Big Ten Basketball Offseasons: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan and More
Illinois Basketball’s Best of the Century: No. 9 Frank Williams
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith Shouts Out Former Illini Terrence Shannon Jr. on ‘First Take’
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
