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As has been known for sometime now, BYU will meet Illinois in a men's basketball game on Dec. 17 at the United Center in Chicago.

The inaugural doubleheader event to be called the State Farm Chicago Legends will also pit Northwestern and Dayton.

Obviously, Northwestern and Illinois are the main draws; Organizers say there are than 230,000 alumni of those two universities in the Chicago area.

Illinois and BYU rank among the NCAA's top 15 all-time winningest programs, with more than 1,700 wins apiece.

BYU fans should contact the BYU ticket office for tickets to the event.

Also, a limited supply will be made available for purchase through http://www.ticketmaster.com beginning Thursday, June 9, at 9 a.m. MT.

BYU is 2-3 all-time against Illinois; The last meeting was in 1980, an 80-75 BYU win on Dec. 19, the same day that BYU's football team rallied past SMU in the Holiday Bowl.

Here are comments from BYU coach Dave Rose about the event:

"This is a great opportunity for our program. It's always exciting to play in an NBA arena, especially an arena with tremendous history like the United Center. The State Farm Chicago Legends will be a terrific event for college basketball fans as it brings together four very competitive teams from outstanding conferences from around the country. We, and our fans, are excited to be part of this inaugural event in Chicago."

Here are comments from Illinois coach John Groce:

"Not only are we excited to be part of this new staple in the Chicago sports calendar, we look forward to returning to Chicago and competing against a talented BYU team in front of a great Illini fan base."

BYU's 2016-17 non conference schedule now includes Illinois, USC, Colorado, Utah State, Weber State and Utah Valley.

Rumors still abound that the Cougars will play in a tournament in Las Vegas with Alabama, Minnesota and Valparaiso, but as of this month nothing official has been announced.