OXFORD — No. 24 Ole Miss’ season opener is still a little more than a week away, but the Rebels’ opening exam arrives Sunday morning.

The test — an 11 a.m. exhibition against Illinois at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss — won’t count against the Rebels’ final grade, but it should give both teams a strong idea regarding where they are and what they need to work on in the final week of the preseason.

Proceeds from the exhibition will go to CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children) of North Mississippi. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.

“Way, way more important than the scoreboard on Sunday morning is can both teams get something out of this,” Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said. “I think it will happen. I think both teams will benefit from this game.”

“We’ll be better for it when we get done playing it,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “We’ll learn a lot.”

Ole Miss played a closed-door scrimmage versus Houston earlier this month in Shreveport, La. The Fighting Illini, meanwhile, hosted Butler in a closed-door scrimmage in Champaign.

Beard and Underwood first crossed paths as junior college coaches in Kansas. They first started talking, Underwood said, about playing a closed scrimmage but the talks eventually progressed to doing something that would not only help their teams prepare for the season but also aid a worthy cause.

Beard is trying to build more fan momentum in his second season at Ole Miss. Underwood wanted to find an older team to go against his revamped squad. The Illini advanced to the Elite Eight last season and finished ranked No. 6 in the AP Poll. However, this year’s club no longer has first-team All-American guard Terrence Shannon Jr., who was taken in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft. The Illini also lost its other three top scorers from last year’s team — Marcus Domask, Coleman Hawkins and Quincy Guerrier — as well. The team’s leading returning scorer is Ty Rodgers, who averaged 6.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game last season. The Illini also added four heavily-pursued transfers, including former Arizona guard Kylan Boswell.

“Until you start to see a different jersey and that true competitive grit steps in and that fire in your belly, sometimes you have to see a different jersey to get that,” Underwood said. “It just made sense for us to go on the road. I always like that experience. …It just checks a lot of boxes I’m excited about.”

Ole Miss opens the season on Nov. 4 in Oxford versus Long Island. The Rebels added several veteran players from the transfer portal to a roster that includes guards Matthew Murrell and JuJu Murray and forward Jaemyn Brakefield. The Rebels started strong last season before fading in the second half of conference play. Ole Miss ultimately turned down an opportunity to play in the NIT.

Hopes are high entering the new season, but Beard knows his team needs to battle-tested. He’s hoping the Illini assist in that process.

“We’re playing in the Southeastern Conference so to prepare for the SEC, anytime you can play against a nationally-ranked type team. Illinois is really good. It’ll be a great opportunity for us. We’re going to play against one of the best coaches in the country. We’ll play against some really good talent, some NBA talent, some experienced talent, some young talent. Brad’s style of play will put some pressure on us. We’ll play against similar styles of play in our non-conference schedule and in the SEC.”

Beard said the competitive juices naturally start flowing in a game setting like the one Ole Miss and Illinois will have on Sunday. However, he’s got more on his agenda than simply trying to score more points than the Illini.

“If there’s a scoreboard on, I’m going to try to win,” Beard said. "Just as if there’s a four-on-four competition, five stops wins it, we’re trying to win. If there’s a shooting competition at night, our weekly shooting trophies and goals and stuff, in competition, you try to find a way to win. Even if there’s not a scoreboard, as a competitor, you try to evaluate what a win is. Growing up shooting free throws by myself, I always had my record of how many I’d made. A win was if I could do one better.

“So yeah, I’m sure Illinois feels the same way. There will be some competitive spirit going on. But definitely the focus in this game is to play some people, play some rotations and learn about our team. When it gets down to the last four or five minutes of the game, it probably won’t be the typical kind of college basketball game. We still have some objectives we’re trying to accomplish.”