Indiana men’s basketball’s Big Ten schedule was revealed this week and there’s actually plenty to talk about.
Darian DeVries is entering his second season at Indiana aiming to move past the mistakes that kept his first team out of the NCAA Tournament and he’ll have plenty of opportunities to avoid extended the program’s ongoing streak of staying home in March.
Here’s some takeaways from the schedule:
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A relatively loaded December
Indiana is once again set to face plenty
of high-major competition relatively early in the season. The Hoosiers, just as they did during DeVries’ first season, will play only two buy games in December. The program played four such games during the 2024-25 season and three in 2023-24.
The December slate is highlighted by a road trip to Iowa and a home contest against Missouri. The Hawkeyes are entering year two under Ben McCollum and advanced further into NCAA Tournament in his first year than ever in 15 seasons under Fran McCaffery. The Tigers are loaded talent-wise and will be a factor throughout SEC play.
Indiana will welcome the aforementioned buy game opponents, Western Illinois and Fairleigh Dickinson, to open and close out the month. Other high-major competition includes a pair of home stands against conference foe Rutgers and UCF.
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A packed, 9-game month in January
The Hoosiers will play nine games in January, which isn’t outrageous or too out of the ordinary, but is more than what most of the conference will see to open the new year.
That January slate is highlighted by the Pacific Northwest road trip against Oregon and Washington, home contests against the Big Ten’s reigning Final Four representation in Michigan and Illinois, another home bout against a tough UCLA team and a trip up to Minnesota.
Indiana has some great opportunities to add early resume-building wins in the non-conference slate, but performing well at home against the trio of Michigan, Illinois and UCLA will pay dividends as the season stretches on with another tough finale.
Surely this season, right?
There’s one game I left out of those January notes because I set aside space just for it, and another, here. Northwestern.
It’s been years since Indiana last defeated Northwestern in men’s basketball, a problem that plagued the entirety of Mike Woodson’s tenure as head coach before all but ending the Hoosiers’ NCAA Tournament hopes in DeVries’ first year with a pair of losses to the Wildcats spiritually and then literally ending the season.
Chris Collins is a good coach, this is no knock on his program at all, but Indiana had no business losing one game last year to Northwestern, let alone two at the season’s most critical moments. DeVries has a chance to snap the streak. Can he?
Could the final five games define the season?
Indiana’s gonna need to capitalize on those aforementioned early chances while avoiding any pitfalls because its final stretch isn’t for the faint of heart.
Indiana closes the season vs Purdue, at Wisconsin, vs Michigan State, vs Ohio State before ending things where the stretch began, only at Purdue. That’s just two road games, but they’re at a venue Indiana hasn’t won in since Bob Knight was still the coach and one that’s proved the Big Ten’s most difficult.
The home games come against the program’s top rival, a loaded Michigan State team and a talented Ohio State group. Assembly Hall will be on the Hoosiers’ side, particularly if the season has gone well up to this point, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be competitive.
DeVries’ first season ended on a sour note with a listless losing streak against some of the Big Ten’s best. He really can’t afford to make a habit out of that.
Closing at Purdue
Purdue bid farewell to one of if not the most accomplished senior class in program history with a loss in the Elite Eight last season.
It’s a new era in West Lafayette with new stars to turn to, but that’s never really meant that the Boilermakers have taken a step back. New faces rise to the occasion every time the program’s star, or stars, leave. Matt Painter can be relied on to product top Big Ten teams, regardless of talent level, until he doesn’t do that. The last time Purdue began a new era it landed a No. 1-seed and captured both the Big Ten’s regular season and tournament championships.
Now, does Purdue have a Zach Edey just waiting to emerge? Probably not, no. But the Boilermakers will be a tough out on their home floor as always.
DeVries’ first taste of the rivalry was a home win. His second was the worst Indiana loss in the series in a long time. What about the third and fourth?
