The Illinois men's basketball team will open the season 794 miles from where they originally planned.

Initially, Illinois was to open the season in the Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic Nov. 14 in New York. Now, the team will open at Assembly Hall, on Nov. 22 against Western Illinois.

Despite the scheduling change, Illinois still has its hands full with its non-conference schedule.

"We play one of the most difficult schedules in the country," Illinois assistant coach Jay Price said.

The NCAA's Two-In-Four Rule prevented Illinois from playing against Pittsburgh in New York in November. The rule states teams can only play in two exempted tournaments in four years. The Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic would have been Illinois' third such tournament in four years.

The Jimmy V. Classic in New York on Dec. 6 is not an exempted tournament. So Illinois will play Providence in New York instead of Pittsburgh.

Illinois was rumored to play Gonzaga in the Jimmy V. Classic, but Price said the two teams were never scheduled to meet.

"We had some help with ESPN and now we're playing in the Jimmy V. Classic," Price said.

The Illini's game against Maryland Eastern-Shore had to be moved to Dec. 11 to help the team change the schedule.

With the schedule now set, Illinois will prepare to face the biggest names in college basketball. Illinois will play at Temple and North Carolina (in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge). Arkansas will face Illinois in Chicago. As always, Illinois goes against rival Missouri in the Braggin' Rights Game in St. Louis.

Price sees the tough schedule as a positive for the Illinois team.

"We will be battle tested, that will be something to help us," Price said. "We have to take care of business."

With over half of the team comprised of underclassman, the Illini will have to play beyond their ages.

"We're still a pretty young team," Price said. "Jerrance (Howard) is the only senior on the team. It will test us."

The remainder of the non-conference schedule has Illinois playing Memphis, Mercer and Illinois State at Assembly Hall. Illinois will also travel to Chicago to play Illinois-Chicago.

For the Big Ten schedule, Ohio State, Purdue, Northwestern, Iowa, Penn State and Wisconsin will face Illinois twice. Michigan State, Indiana, Minnesota and Michigan only oppose the Illini once.