The Big Ten released the official conference match ups on July 31st. As with previous seasons, the schedule sets up 18 total games for each team. Each team has four single play opponents at home and on the road along with a set of five at home and away. Below is the conference schedule single and double play opponents for each team. There are no protected rivalries this year, but that could possibly change as soon as 2018-19. A more detailed version of the schedule will be released by the the Big Ten at a later date.

Big Ten Conference Schedule Matchups

-Illinois Fighting Illini

• Home: Iowa, Maryland, Penn State, Purdue
• Away: Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State
• Home and Away: Indiana, Michigan State, Nebraska, Rutgers, Wisconsin

-Indiana Hoosiers

• Home: Maryland, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue
• Away: Michigan, Nebraska, Rutgers, Wisconsin
• Home and Away: Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State

-Iowa Hawkeyes

• Home: Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin
• Away: Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, Rutgers
• Home and Away: Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State

-Maryland Terrapins

• Home: Iowa, Minnesota, Rutgers, Wisconsin
• Away: Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio State
• Home and Away: Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue

-Michigan Wolverines

• Home: Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Rutgers
• Away: Michigan State, Nebraska, Penn State, Wisconsin
• Home and Away: Iowa, Maryland, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue

-Michigan State Spartans

• Home: Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue
• Away: Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State
• Home and Away: Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Rutgers, Wisconsin

-Minnesota Golden Gophers

• Home: Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State, Rutgers
• Away: Maryland, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin
• Home and Away: Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue

-Nebraska Cornhuskers

• Home: Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan
• Away: Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue
• Home and Away: Illinois, Minnesota, Penn State, Rutgers, Wisconsin

-Northwestern Wildcats

• Home: Illinois, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State
• Away: Indiana, Iowa, Purdue, Rutgers
• Home and Away: Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Penn State, Wisconsin

-Ohio State Buckeyes

• Home: Illinois, Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska
• Away: Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin
• Home and Away: Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Penn State, Rutgers

-Penn State Nittany Lions

• Home: Michigan, Minnesota, Rutgers, Wisconsin
• Away: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue
• Home and Away: Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State

-Purdue Boilermakers

• Home: Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State
• Away: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State
• Home and Away: Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Rutgers, Wisconsin

-Rutgers Scarlet Knights

• Home: Indiana, Iowa, Northwestern, Wisconsin
• Away: Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Penn State
• Home and Away: Illinois, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Purdue

-Wisconsin Badgers

• Home: Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State
• Away: Iowa, Maryland, Penn State, Rutgers
• Home and Away: Illinois, Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue

Thoughts:

1. Michigan State Has A Nice Draw.

The Big Ten preseason favorite landed a nice schedule for their Big Ten slate. Miles Bridges and company will get Purdue and Michigan once at home, and play potential bottom half teams Illinois, Rutgers and Indiana twice.

The Spartans will still need to travel to Minnesota and Northwestern for their single play road games, but road-only games against Iowa and Ohio State are manageable.

College basketball is still some time away, but with that schedule draw, Michigan State is clearly the favorite entering the season.

2. Northwestern, Minnesota And Purdue’s Schedules All Are A Mixed Bag.

The teams that will most likely challenge Michigan State all had schedule draws that were mixed.

Northwestern only gets Purdue and Michigan State once each, but also only plays potential bottom half teams like Rutgers (home), Nebraska (home) and Ohio State (home) once.

Minnesota only gets Ohio State, Rutgers and Illinois once (at home), but must travel to tough Big Ten arenas like Indiana, Purdue, Maryland, Michigan and Wisconsin. The Golden Gophers snuck up on some people last season. I wouldn’t expect that to happen in 2017-18.

The reigning Big Ten champion Purdue Boilermakers gets Rutgers twice, but must travel to Michigan State and Indiana in their single road game set. The Boilers have home/away’s against Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland and Wisconsin, all tough games. Compared to Michigan State’s home/away slate, the Spartans have the advantage.

3. Need A Surprise Team? How About Iowa?

If you are looking for a team to surprise, partly due to a nice schedule, take a look at the Iowa Hawkeyes.

First, the case for the team itself. Sure they lost Peter Jok (19.9 points per game), but the Hawkeyes return pretty much everyone else. Coach Fran McCaffrey also added a top 40 recruiting class (Rivals), with three players in the top 150 coming to Iowa City.

From a scheduling standpoint, Iowa earned one of the best draws in the Big Ten. They only get Purdue, Michigan State and Northwestern once, at home. Their single play road games include Rutgers, Illinois and Nebraska. They also get home/away games come against Ohio State and Penn State. With improvements from Iowa’s underclassmen, there’s a reasonable path to 10-11 wins in the Big Ten.

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Stay tuned for BTPowerhouse as more scheduling information becomes available for the 2017-18 college basketball season.