Tennessee Basketball passed its first test as the new No. 1 team in the country on Tuesday, defeating Miami 75-62 in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. Now the Vols are back on the road at Illinois on Saturday afternoon.

Follow all the live updates before, during and after today’s game on The General’s Quarters

No. 1 Tennessee (9-0) and Illinois (7-2) are scheduled to kick off at State Farm Center at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The game will be televised by FOX.

Illinois is No. 12 in the NET and No. 16 overall in KenPom.com ratings. The Illini are ranked No. 16 in adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 28 in adjusted offensive efficiency. Tennessee is No. 2 in both NET and KenPom. The Vols are No. 2 in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 10 in adjusted offensive efficiency.

#1 Tennessee vs. Illinois: How to Watch

Start time: Saturday, 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time

TV: FOX

Streaming: FOXSports.com or FOX Sports App

Radio: WNML-FM 99.1 in Knoxville. Vol Network’s radio show can be heard on local stations throughout the state of Tennessee.

KenPom Prediction: Tennessee 74, Illinois 71 (61% Vol. win)

The line: Tennessee -1.5

Last season: Tennessee 86, Illinois 79

Tennessee defeated Illinois 86-79 in their first home game last December in front of 21,678 fans at the Food City Center.

Dalton Knecht scored 21 points and led the Vols in the win. Jonas Aidoo scored 14, Josiah Jordan James And Santiago Vescovi each had 12 and Zakai Zeigler scored 11. Terrence Shannon And Quincy Guerrier scored 22 each for Illinois and Coleman Hawkins had 12.

Both teams would advance to the Elite Eight last March. Tennessee lost to Purdue in the Midwest Regional final and Illinois lost to UConn in the East Regional final after overcoming Morehead State, Duquesne and Iowa State.

Tennessee assistant coach Rod Clark On Thursday, he described this season’s Illinois team as “very different” than the team that played in Knoxville last season.

“Stylistically, some things are similar,” Clark said. “Last year they were older. Obviously a lot of guys who have played a lot of college basketball games. There was someone like Terrence Shannon who was just a cop in a China store driving a basketball. He was one of the hardest guys in the country to guard year after year. Obviously he’s an All-American. So replacing him is obviously different.”

How They Got Here: Tennessee vs. Illinois

Illinios won six of its first seven games this season, with the only loss coming against No. 7 Alabama (100-87) in Birmingham and the run ending with a 90-77 victory over Arkansas in Kansas City.

Illinois began Big Ten play with an overtime loss at Northwestern on Dec. 6 and rebounded with an 86-80 victory over Wisconsin on Dec. 10.

Tennessee’s 9-0 start is its best under Rick Barnes and the program’s best since 2000-01. The Vols started the 1999-2000 season 10-0. It’s only the third time Tennessee has been ranked No. 1 and the second time under Barnes.