We are under two months from the college basketball season and with that, the full Indiana basketball schedule was released on Tuesday. While the non-conference was already known, as were the opponents in Big Ten play, we finally put dates to games for league games.
The Hoosiers open the 20-game league slate on Dec. 1 against Maryland. Indiana plays Purdue, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin twice during the regular season. It plays Iowa, Michigan State and Northwestern at home and Illinois, Michigan and Rutgers on the road.
Indiana’s ‘unofficial’ start of the season is Hoosier Hysteria on Homecoming Weekend, Friday, Oct. 20.
There are some key takeaways from the schedule release. So, let’s dive in to some early thoughts.
Heck of a stretch in late November / early December for IU. With so many new faces, roles and responsibilities, there are still a lot of questions about how Indiana will fare early in the season. Well, it won’t be an easy task. The Hoosiers are going to be tested early and often. Look no further than the late November to early December stretch that includes an extremely difficult seven-game stretch. Indiana goes: Empire Classic vs UConn, Texas / Louisville, vs Harvard (Indianapolis), vs Maryland, @ Michigan, vs Auburn (Atlanta), vs Kansas. Even if Indiana goes 4-3 in that stretch, that’s going to give them some good wins going into the New Year.
Final four-game stretch in January is tough. After a bit of a ‘breather’ — obviously there is no real breather in Big Ten play — to start the New Year, Indiana gears up for a difficult four-game stretch to end the month. It goes; vs Purdue, @ Wisconsin, @ Illinois, vs Iowa. All four teams will be in the upper-tier of the league while Purdue and Wisconsin will likely be at the top of the conference. The one ‘saving grace’ is how spaced out the games are. After just two days between the Purdue and Wisconsin games, there is a nearly two-week stretch before Indiana travels to Illinois.
Middle of February could be when Indiana makes its move up the Big Ten. I fully expect Indiana to be hitting its peak towards the end of the season. As mentioned, the new faces and roles will definitely take some time to figure itself out, but come middle of February, I think you’ll see the real Indiana basketball team playing. And, there’s an intriguing stretch that could allow the Hoosiers to make up any potential ground in the standings. From February 18 – 27, Indiana plays at home against Northwestern, Nebraska and Wisconsin with just one road game, at Penn State. With a team that prides itself in protecting home court, this could be a perfect stretch for Indiana to pick up some quality wins in-conference at home while stealing one on the road with a coach in his first year in the Big Ten in Mike Rhoades.
Three of last five on the road… albeit not intimidating opponents. No team wants to limp into the Big Ten tournament and Indiana will have to do a fantastic job finishing the year to avoid that. A team that is just 8-15 on the road under Mike Woodson through two seasons finishes the regular season with three of the last five away from Assembly Hall. Those games are against Penn State, Maryland and Minnesota. So, while Penn State and Minnesota aren’t teams that are expected to compete at the top of the conference, it’s still on the road. Indiana lost to Maryland — who returns a lot of its roster from a year ago — last season and bring in a talented recruiting class in addition to some key transfers. Indiana needs to ensure it gets at least two of those three games.
Other Quick Notes:
- IU’s lone matchup with Michigan State comes at Assembly Hall on Senior Night. Couldn’t have asked for a better time to play the Spartans.
- Former Indiana basketball forward Jordan Geronimo makes his return to Assembly Hall for the Big Ten opener when Maryland makes the trip on Dec. 1.
- Indiana wraps up the regular season on March 10 — that’ll be the latest season-finale for the Hoosiers since the 2018-19 season. Typically March 5-6 has been the finale. The Big Ten Tournament begins on March 13.
- There are three separate occasions when Indiana plays back-to-back games on the road.
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