>> Tim Bekcman Era Starts With Familiar Foe

Tim Beckman will be on unfamiliar ground when he debuts as head coach at Illinois on Saturday. He will be facing a familiar opponent in Western Michigan and that might make the old defensive coordinator in him nervous.

Beckman's Toledo Rockets managed to hold off the Broncos last season in a crazy 66-63 game.

Western Michigan and quarterback Alex Carder have a way of making defenses look bad. The Broncos led Illinois at the half last year before finally falling by a field goal.

Beckman says he plans to shuffle players on and off the field to keep his defense fresh against a team that routinely throws 50 or more times a game.

>> Illini Open Big Ten Season At Purdue

Illinois will open its first Big Ten basketball season under new coach John Groce (GROHS) on the road at Purdue on Jan. 2, but then play 3 of its next four games at home.

The Big Ten released conference basketball schedules Thursday.

After the Boilermakers, the Illini will face Ohio State, Minnesota and Northwestern at home between Jan. 5 and 17. Those games are wrapped around a Jan. 12 trip to Wisconsin.

The Illini will close the conference schedule with 3 of their last four games on the road at Michigan, Iowa and Ohio State. The home finale will be March 2 against Nebraska.

Groce came to Illinois from Ohio after longtime coach Bruce Weber was fired over the Illini's 17-15 season. The Illini lost 12 of their last 14.