BLOOMINGTON – Mike Woodson’s first Big Ten schedule looks as balanced as any the Hoosiers have drawn in recent memory.
The conference’s men’s basketball calendar, which annually prompts Indiana to release its full schedule as well, rolled out via the Big Ten Network on Wednesday afternoon. After the dust had settled on a reveal format that was anything but chronological, IU found itself staring at a December visit from Nebraska to begin Big Ten play, with a trip to Wisconsin shortly to follow.
For the Hoosiers, there were few surprises.
They were not expected to add marquee games beyond their obligations in the Gavitt Games (St. John’s, Nov. 17), the ACC/Big Ten Challenge (at Syracuse, Nov. 30) and the Crossroads Classic (Notre Dame in Indianapolis, Dec. 18).
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All feel manageable, though none a guaranteed win. With a rebuilt roster and a lot of scheduling uncertainty on the horizon, it’s the sort of nonconference slate IU should have aimed for in Woodson’s first year.
The real intrigue will be in Big Ten play, which begins with the Cornhuskers coming to Bloomington on Dec. 4 and first sends the Hoosiers on the road Dec. 8, with a trip to Wisconsin.
It is hardly the most-difficult two-game turn on the calendar. Neither opponent is a sure thing this winter, Nebraska because of Fred Hoiberg’s ongoing rebuilding efforts, and Wisconsin after its substantial spring talent drain.
But, taken as a piece, they are a tricky pair of games against teams that shouldn’t be rollovers all that often in the Big Ten. Indiana fans are well aware of the difficulties of going to Wisconsin, and they should have a healthy respect for a Nebraska team that took IU to overtime in its last visit to Assembly Hall, in December 2019.
A 2-0 Big Ten start will not be easy, but it would require both tangible and intangible qualities that suggest this Indiana team capable of more than its immediate predecessors. Of course, for the Hoosiers, winning at Wisconsin in particular has been far easier envisioned than realized over the past 20 years.
Once Big Ten play resumes in early January — and acknowledging that its early September and what we think we know about some of these teams will be challenged across the season’s first two months — there’s no obvious gauntlet that could break the Hoosiers’ rhythm (assuming they’ve managed to find some).
The hardest stretches of Big Ten play are probably Jan. 13-23 (at Iowa, at Nebraska, Purdue, Michigan) and Feb. 12-24 (at Michigan State, Wisconsin, at Ohio State, Maryland). There’s also a trip to Maryland lurking on the other side of Penn State at the end of January that could be folded into that first stretch, but the common theme between them is one that runs through this entire schedule: There are enough breaks and easing-off moments in this schedule, at least at it stands right now, to make it manageable.
Again, all this remains fluid as the first two months of the season redefine our collective understanding of many of these teams, IU chiefly among them.
After 2-3 seasons of elite-level performance as a conference, the Big Ten enters 2021-22 a more uncertain league. Too much talent has been drained, and too many coaching positions turned over, to feel as confident in the conference beyond the strength of Purdue, Michigan, probably Ohio State and possibly Illinois. Transfers might have remade teams like IU and Maryland, just as improved recruiting could see a team like Nebraska find another gear. We just can’t know yet.
Based on what we can, Woodson and his staff have been handed a tough-but-manageable first slate. There’s less meat on the nonconference bones than normal, but that’s probably wise. And any unease at handicapping the Big Ten field will be in part because of the Hoosiers’ own unknowns, meaning they will get every opportunity to change the stakes in their favor.
That will be Woodson’s No. 1 goal.
Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.
IU MEN'S BASKETBALL 2021-22 SCHEDULE
Nov. 9 — vs. Eastern Michigan
Nov. 12 — vs. Northern Illinois
Nov. 17 — vs. St. John's
Nov. 21 — vs. Louisiana
Nov. 23 — vs. Jackson State
Nov. 27 — vs. Marshall
Nov. 30 — at Syracuse
Dec. 4 — vs. Nebraska
Dec. 8 — at Wisconsin
Dec. 12 — vs. Merrimack
Dec. 18 — vs. Notre Dame, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Dec. 22 — vs. Northern Kentucky
Dec. 29 — vs. UNC Asheville
Jan. 2 — at Penn State
Jan. 6 — vs. Ohio State
Jan. 9 — vs. Minnesota
Jan. 13 — at Iowa
Jan. 17 — at Nebraska
Jan. 20 — vs. Purdue
Jan. 23 — vs. Michigan
Jan. 26 — vs. Penn State
Jan. 29 — at Maryland
Feb. 5 — vs. Illinois
Feb. 8 — at Northwestern
Feb. 12 — at Michigan State
Feb. 15 — vs. Wisconsin
Feb. 19 — at Ohio State
Feb. 24 — vs. Maryland
Feb. 27 — at Minnesota
March 2 — vs. Rutgers
March 5 — at Purdue
IU WOMEN'S BASKETBALLSCHEDULE TO DATE
Nov. 14 — vs. Kentucky
Nov. 25 — vs. Stanford (at Nassau, The Bahamas)
Nov. 27 — vs. Miami (at Nassau, The Bahamas)
Dec. 2 — vs. N.C. State
Dec. 6 — vs. Penn State
Dec. 12 — at Ohio State
Dec. 20 — at Rutgers
Jan. 2 — vs. Maryland
Jan. 5 — at Wisconsin
Jan. 13 — vs. Nebraska
Jan. 16 — at Purdue
Jan. 19 — vs. Michigan State
Jan. 23 — at Iowa
Jan. 27 — vs. Illinois
Jan. 30 — at Michigan
Feb. 3 — vs. Minnesota
Feb. 6 — vs. Purdue
Feb. 10 — at Illinois
Feb. 14 — at Nebraska
Feb. 17 — vs. Northwestern
Feb. 20 — vs. Iowa
Feb. 25/26 — at Maryland
