How to Watch Illinois vs VCU in the NCAA Tournament

Think back to November, when Illinois began its 2025-26 season with a nearly all-new roster, and coach Brad Underwood talked often of toughening up Keaton Wagler, lighting a fire under Andrej Stojakovic to get after it on defense. Or further back, when the Illini tangled with Florida, now a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, in a preseason scrimmage. Or even further back, to when Underwood and the administration built out its schedule, lining up Texas Tech, Alabama, UConn and Tennessee – all of them now No. 6 seeds or higher – as part of Illinois' grueling non-conference slate.

It has all led up to now.

If you consider the longer timeline – with Kylan Boswell, Tomislav Ivisic, Ben Humrichous and Jake Davis joining Illinois in 2024 to form the backbone of the current club – Underwood has been preparing his Illini for this moment not just for months but years. They were game on Thursday in a 105-70 teardown of Penn in the NCAA Tournament first round, and the No. 3-seeded Illini appear to have most of the advantages going into Saturday's second-round matchup with No. 11 VCU. Will they continue to press them? They are clearly built to outscore opponents, but can they also stop them? They're fire up for the postseason against an Ivy League foe, but are they focused enough to knock off contenders?

The time to for them to prove it, again, is right now.

Here’s more information about Saturday's second-round Illinois-VCU matchup:

How to watch Illinois Fighting Illini vs. VCU Rams

1-0.

📆 March 21
🏆 NCAA Tournament Round 2
🆚 [11] VCU
⏰ 6:50 p.m. CT
📍 Greenville, SC
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/Tz1qhHk9IP
— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) March 20, 2026

What's the event?

No. 3 seed Illinois (25-8) will face No. 11 seed VCU (27-7) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament (South Region).

Where and when are they playing?

Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, on Saturday at approximately 6:50 p.m. CT.

How to watch

Illinois vs. VCU will be broadcast on CBS. Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson will be on the call.

How to listen

Audio of the game can be heard on radio affiliates of the Busey Bank Illini Sports Network (Champaign: WDWS 93.9 FM or 1400 AM; Chicago: WLS 890 AM) and streamed at Fighting Illini Productions and the Varsity Network App.

What happened when Illinois last played VCU?

It has been a decade since the Illini faced the Rams in the one and only contest between the schools – a 64-46 Illini win at the HoopHall Miami Invitational on Dec. 3, 2016. Leron Black led Illinois with 18 points to earn the event MVP award, and Malcolm Hill pitched in 16.

What has changed since then?

For starters, John Groce was on his last legs at Illinois back in 2016, and a fresh-faced Will Wade – who has held three Division I head coaching jobs in the intervening years – was then VCU's coach. Today, Underwood is nursing the budding shoots of what could become an annual NCAA title contender at Illinois, and Phil Martelli Jr. – son of the renowned former St. Joseph's coach and current Michigan assistant – is coming off an Atlantic 10-winning debut season in Richmond.

David Mirkovic with 29 and 17 in 28 minutes against Penn. Can give you a monster line like that without being able to jump over a puddle. Super skilled with offensive instincts. At 6-9 255: 50+ 3PTM this year and efficient on 65 PnR ballhandling reps. pic.twitter.com/3lZzPBsJUk
— Jonathan Wasserman (@NBADraftWass) March 20, 2026

As dangerous as the Rams are – and their second-half comeback and overtime win against North Carolina on Thursday should be proof enough – they are massively outsized by the Illini, who finally showed in the win over Penn that they are willing to take what defenses give them rather than follow a paint-by-numbers script. If VCU isn't forced to choke on a steady diet of David Mirkovic and Ivisic post-ups on Saturday, then the Illini have learned nothing in 2025-26.