The Arizona Wildcats have passed every test so far this season, but admittedly most of those exams weren’t that difficult. That all changes on Saturday when Arizona heads into hostile territory, facing Illinois in Champaign, Ill.
Illinois (7-2) began the season ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 and reached the No. 10 spot before losing to Marquette and Cincinnati in November. Since then the Fighting Illini have won five in a row, including a 2-0 start in the Big Ten with victories over Rutgers—which just knocked off No. 1 Purdue—and Iowa.
This is the 16th meeting between the schools, the last coming in November 2019 when Arizona blew out Illinois 90-69 in Tucson.