After receiving little bits of news about non-conference games all offseason long, we now know the complete non-conference schedule for the Michigan men’s basketball team ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Here is the full non-conference schedule:
• Monday, Nov. 3: Oakland (Crisler Center)
• Tuesday, Nov. 11: vs. Wake Forest (Detroit, Mich.)
• Friday, Nov. 14: at TCU (Fort Worth, Texas)
• Wednesday, Nov. 19: Middle Tennessee (Crisler Center)
• Monday, Nov. 24: vs. San Diego State (Las Vegas, Nev.)
• Tuesday, Nov. 25: vs. Auburn (Las Vegas, Nev.)
• Wednesday or Thursday, Nov. 26 or 27: vs. TBD (Las Vegas, Nev.)
• Tuesday, Dec. 9: Villanova (Crisler Center)
• Sunday, Dec. 21: LaSalle (Crisler Center)
• Monday, Dec. 29: McNeese (Crisler Center)
• Saturday, Feb. 21: vs. Duke (Washington, D.C.)
We already knew about the games against Duke, Villanova, Oakland, McNeese and the Players Era opponents, while games against Wake Forest and TCU are the final legs of home-and-home games agreed upon before last season. That leaves the games against Middle Tennessee, LaSalle and McNeese to round out the non-conference.
A lot can happen between now and November, so trying to predict what is going to happen during this stretch would be a fool’s errand. Instead, here are a few of my quick thoughts on this schedule as a whole
- I love that Michigan has games against two blue bloods in Villanova and Duke. While Villanova has been down by its standards the last few seasons, that will be a fun test against a good coach in Kevin Willard. And Duke is always a tough matchup, and a game that late into the regular season can help simulate the tournament for the Wolverines
- The only true road game in this slate is at TCU, which feels like an advantage for the Wolverines. May took a page out of the Coach K playbook when it comes to making sure your team plays at home as much as possible.
- Michigan has a chance to get revenge on Auburn after the Tigers beat the Wolverines in the Sweet Sixteen last season. I’m sure the Wolverines have that game circled.
- If you’re going to be playing games on the week of Thanksgiving, you might as well play quality opponents to help guys get up for the game. Auburn is a good program, SDSU is two years removed from a National Championship appearance, and there are a lot of great teams in that showcase. Plus the players will get paid via NIL, which is a win in my book.
- While this is a challenging non-conference schedule on paper, I like it that way. Tom Izzo has been the king of scheduling challenging opponents in non-conference play to prepare his team for the tournament, and May appears to be following suit.
- Watch out for those games against LaSalle and McNeese. With the students on winter break at that point, it will be quieter than normal at Crisler Center. Those sleepy games around Christmas are prime chances for mid-majors to play spoiler, so Michigan will have to make sure to keep its foot on the gas.
- I like playing Oakland again. That game at LCA was fun last year, and it appears May and Oakland legend Greg Kampe have a good relationship off the court.
Which games are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments.
