by Jordan Beckley
The Big Ten officially released the schedule for all the conference games on Tuesday. Big Ten Basketball is one step closer to being back!
I’ve spent the past day poring over all 14 teams’ schedules and have some observations to talk about.
Let’s break down the toughest week for your favorite team, the dates of the biggest games and what Championship week will look like!
The B1G points
Up first, let’s discuss the big picture stuff with the schedule. When are the key rivalry games? When do the one-time games happen? When does the Big Ten season start?
The Big Ten Season kicks off on December 1st with two games. Reigning Champion Purdue visits second place finisher Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The last time Purdue played at Northwestern this happened.
The second game features the other 2nd place finisher in Indiana hosting the Maryland Terrapins. Both teams played tight contests last year and split the results. Maryland upset a ranked Indiana in the regular season and the Hoosiers knocked the Terps out of the Big Ten Tournament. Both should be fighting for a top 4 type of finish in the conference again.
Rivalry Games
Here are some of the biggest dates for the biggest Rivalry games:
- Indiana and Purdue have indisputably the best rivalry in the Big Ten for Basketball. They play twice this season for potentially the final time before Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington join the conference. Purdue travels to Indiana first on Tuesday January 16th and Indiana plays in Mackey on Saturday February 10th. Both games will have a huge impact on the Championship race.
- The best rivalry in Big Ten sports overall is Michigan vs Ohio State. Both teams are up there as far as the most volatile ceilings and floors. Both teams could suck or both could be pretty good or both could be completely mediocre. No matter what level of quality they are, both are going to show up and fight on Monday January 15th in Ann Arbor and Sunday March 3rd in Columbus for bragging rights.
- Illinois hates everybody. They’re rivals with half the teams on their schedule. They play the border war against Mizzou December 22nd. The Illini battle for the state with Northwestern on January 2nd (Tuesday) and the 24th (Wednesday). Illinois only plays Wisconsin once and its at the Kohl Center on Saturday March 2nd. The Hawkeyes play the Orange on Saturday February 24th and to close the season on Sunday March 10th.
- Little Brother vs Big Brother of Michigan State and Michigan happens twice this season too. The Izzone will be harassing the Wolverines on Tuesday January 30th and Michigan State will visit Ann Arbor on Saturday February 17th.
- Iowa Wisconsin is one of the most fun rivalries in the conference with plenty of bad blood. The Badgers and Hawkeyes will battle each other twice. The Hawkeyes will visit Madison on Tuesday January 2nd. The game in Iowa City is Saturday February 17th.
- Finally, if you’re a Minnesota fan you don’t want to know when your rivalry games are because the Gophers are likely going to lose all of them.
Other Notable Games
- Preseason favorites Purdue and Michigan State only play once. The conference championship race could be decided when they play in Mackey Arena on Saturday March 2nd as it will be the third to last game for each team.
- Purdue fans, the Boilers play Rutgers on January 28th and February 22nd. Be prepared to be upset in those games.
- Every team plays on the final day of the season March 10th except for Northwestern who gets to host Minnesota on the 9th. If Northwestern is competing for a Big Ten title, they could officially win it while eating popcorn and watching another team choke.
- Penn State will host Michigan at the historic Palestra in Philadelphia on Sunday January 7th. Last year, the Nittany Lions hosted the Boilers at The Palestra. This game is a lot of fun and great opportunity for PSU alums in Philly area to see their team in a great venue. Michigan should be a winnable game for Coach Rhoades and Penn State too.
- Michigan State also only plays Indiana once. The Hoosiers play the Spartans on the last day of the season. Could we see IU win a Big Ten Title in Assembly Hall over Michigan State on the last day of the season?
- Wisconsin has won 19 straight against IU in the Kohl Center. The Hoosiers will look to end one of the longest droughts in the Big Ten on Friday January 19th. According to the IU database, Indiana hasn’t won in Madison since January 1998. This year’s Hoosiers could end a 25 year losing streak or extend it to 26.
The Toughest Stretches
Not all schedules are created equal. Every fan can scan their team’s schedule and find a week that is going to be hell for their squad. Here are some of the ones I found on a quick glance.
Wisconsin
The Badgers have a brutal early Christmas gift for their fans. We knew that Wisconsin was going to play Marquette on Saturday December 2nd and follow that up with a game against Arizona the next Saturday. We didn’t know Wisconsin would get a game at Michigan State as their lone Big Ten game in December on the Tuesday in between them. They will be playing three preseason Top-15 or so teams and three favorites for their respective conference in the span of 8 days. The Big Ten schedulers weren’t kind to Greg Gard here.
Iowa
The Hawkeyes have their tough stretch in the same week from 12/4-12/10. On Monday December 4th, Iowa plays Purdue in Mackey, on Thursday the Hawks play rival Iowa State, and then they finish the week hosting Michigan. Playing 3 games of that caliber that early in the calendar will test some of the young pieces on Fran McCaffery’s team.
Indiana
Perhaps nobody has a harder December than the Hoosiers, who have an absolutely loaded last month of 2023. Mike Woodson loaded up Indiana to play Maryland (12/1), at Michigan (12/5), against Auburn in Atlanta (12/9) and hosting Kansas (12/16). Last year, I was worried about Indiana after getting beat up by Arizona and Kansas in this same part of the calendar. The Hoosiers went onto sweep Purdue and finish 2nd in the Big Ten. We will find out a lot about the new look Indiana after December, but it won’t be their final version.
January Gauntlets
Plenty of Big Ten teams have 8-9 conference games in the month of January. The Big Ten schedule can wear you down. There are a lot of great teams in the conference and almost all of them have amazing home crowds every day of the week.
Playing 20 conference games in the Big Ten is grueling. Let’s look at Illinois’ January Schedule to illustrate how tough life in the Big Ten can be.
The Orange have to play at Mackey Arena, at the Crisler Center, at Welsh-Ryan Arena and at the Schottenstein Center in the same month. Oh, and you have to host bulldogs like Northwestern and Rutgers and conference favorites Maryland, Michigan State, and Indiana.
There are truly no days off in the Big Ten.
Champ Week Preview
Did you ever skip to the end and read the last page of a book when you were growing up? I did it all the time. Sometimes it spoiled things. Sometimes it made no sense. The last page of To Kill a Mockingbird did not tell you what that book would be about lol.
Back to Basketball, it’s fun to skip to the end of your team’s schedule and imagine how important the last few games will be. Your team might not be in the Title race by then, but right now in your head they are and that 2nd to last game is going to be sooo tough.
Here are the last three games for the favorites in the Big Ten:
- Indiana – Last 3: at Maryland, at Minnesota, Michigan State
- Maryland – Northwestern, Indiana, at Penn State
- Illinois – at Wisconsin, Purdue, at Iowa
- Northwestern – Iowa, at Michigan State, Minnesota
- Wisconsin – Illinois, Rutgers, at Purdue
- Michigan State – at Purdue, Northwestern, at Indiana
- Purdue – Michigan State, at Illinois, Wisconsin
This random group of seven I pulled as ‘favorites’ each have at least two games against each other down the stretch. Purdue and Michigan State have all three games against this projected top half. Fun fact Michigan State is playing the three teams that finished ahead of them in the standings last year. That means that once the Calendar turns to March there should be plenty to be decided in teams final few games.
Last year the final day decided 2-9 in the conference. Two years ago, Illinois and Wisconsin secured the Big Ten title on the final day of the season. It might be fair to expect another dramatic conclusion this year.
Will Purdue repeat? Can Michigan State win it’s first outright title since 2018? Could somebody else sneak in and win it?
I can’t wait for every month of the Big Ten Calendar and to break it all down with you.
Make sure you’re following The Floor Slap Podcast and our twitter. Once the season starts, I will be releasing a weekly recap and preview article and a weekly College Basketball podcast too.
My team previews will start releasing in October. Until then, we have some College Football to watch!