The pieces are starting to fill in for Michigan Basketball’s schedule next season, including some interesting Big Ten quirks. Here are 3 thoughts on where the schedule currently stands:
In today’s landscape, much of the attention in college athletics comes from things off the field (or court, or ice, etc.). The transfer portal, conference realignment, and even television slot selection command headlines, and earlier this week we got another example of these things taking center stage with the announcement of next season’s Big Ten opponent locations .
As a reminder, a 20-game schedule among an 18-team conference results in 14 single-game opponents and three double-play opponents — math! This is typically accompanied by 11 non-conference games, which will include games against Duke, Wake Forest, and TCU for the Michigan Wolverines , as well as the Players Era Festival contests and a handful of buy games.
While we await those final pieces, as well as the dates for each of the conference battles, there are still some nuggets to glean from the information we do have. Here are three takeaways following the Big Ten’s latest schedule update.
The Game(s)
With the Pac-12 acquisition, the conference protected double-plays for many rivals last year: UM/MSU, IU/PU, UW/MN, Iowa/Neb, and Wash/Ore/USC/UCLA. Not included in this list was Michigan-Ohio State, whose double-plays have traditionally followed the standard rotation like the rest of the conference. However, first-year coaches Dusty May and (kinda) Jake Diebler both asked the conference to add this pairing to the protected rivalry list, and at least for this season, their request was granted.
It is not yet clear if this will be a permanent occurrence, but I sure hope it is. I know that opinion is not shared by all, but in a 20-game conference slate there is certainly room for another rivalry date. For 2025-26 specifically, this could give the Wolverines an extra top-25 opponent given early bracket projections. The same cannot be said for the third double-play assignment, Penn State, which is why I would rather lock in a rival than grab a random Big Ten team out of a hat and hope it is someone exciting.
Tough single-play draw
As for the other 14 teams on the schedule, it feels like a sharp gap between the home and away groups. UCLA and Wisconsin will be fun games in Ann Arbor, but the rest of the slate is fairly weak. No one has been excited about playing Indiana in ages, and aside from the novelty of USC, none of Minnesota, Nebraska and Rutgers should be challenging nor exciting. This is unfortunate with the big non-conference games all away from Crisler.
Meanwhile, the conference road trips could be brutal. Michigan may never beat Illinois again, regardless of location, and last year’s trip to West Lafayette will not inspire any confidence for this season. After heading to Los Angeles this past January, it now becomes time for a journey to the Pacific Northwest, with games at Maryland and Iowa also on the docket.
Filling in the gaps
Given how the Big Ten schedule is partitioned, the focus now turns back to the non-conference slate. Last season, May was very intentional about loading up on Power Five opponents, and those four non-MTE games (Wake Forest, TCU, Arkansas and Oklahoma) were the most for Michigan against this type of competition since 2016-17. With a trip to Fort Worth and two neutral site contests already booked, the Wolverines are on a good track to repeat this blueprint.
The weaker home conference opponents give a need for as many potential Quad 1 games as possible, so look for another Power Five program to make its way onto the schedule. At the same time, May also needs to consider winnability in the remaining games, as the tough road schedule in the Big Ten will definitely bring some losses. With expectations high in general for Michigan, planning the first couple months well could play a big role come March.