Ordinarily, there are extra butterflies floating around before a season opener. Coaches and players spend a little extra time contemplating how good their teams might look on opening night.

No. 25 Illinois need not bother with this step before hosting Eastern Illinois in Monday's opener at State Farm Center in Champaign. The Illini already know their potential because they knocked off No. 1 Kansas 82-75 in a nationally televised exhibition Oct. 29 while raising $1 million for Maui wildfire relief.

"I was very pleased with our offensive flow," said Illinois coach Brad Underwood, a nod to his offseason project to fix a roster that didn't have enough good passers or shooters last year. "The end of the game, we had a lot of age out there. A lot of experience. Early in the season, you rely on that."