Michigan’s Big Ten schedule for 2023-24: Takeaways and analysis

We already knew who Michigan was playing in non-conference play, and now we know when and where the Wolverines will play their Big Ten opponents in 2023-24.

Here’s the conference schedule in chronological, with a few of my thoughts below:

-Dec. 5 vs Indiana

-Dec. 10 @ Iowa

-Jan. 4 vs Minnesota

-Jan. 7 vs Penn State at The Palestra

-Jan. 11 @ Maryland

-Jan. 15 vs Ohio State

-Jan. 18 vs Illinois

-Jan. 23 @ Purdue

-Jan. 27 vs Iowa

-Jan. 30 @ Michigan State

-Feb. 3 vs Rutgers

-Feb. 7 vs Wisconsin

-Feb. 10 @ Nebraska

-Feb. 13 @ Illinois

-Feb. 17 vs Michigan State

-Feb. 22 @ Northwestern

-Feb. 25 vs Purdue

-Feb. 29 @ Rutgers

-March 3 @ Ohio State

-March 10 vs Nebraska

-March 13-17, Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis

Observations

-Michigan will play Iowa, Michigan State, Illinois, Ohio State, Rutgers, Purdue and Nebraska twice.

Purdue and Michigan State are projected to be two of the top teams in the conference, so those will be tough tests, but it will also be a chance to improve their tournament resume. The same goes for Illinois, Iowa and Rutgers, which should be middle-of-the-pack teams. Ohio State and Nebraska aren’t expected to be great, so playing both of them twice is nice.

-The Wolverines face Indiana, Northwestern, Minnesota, Maryland, Wisconsin, and Penn State once.

They don’t have to play at Assembly Hall, which is a tough place to play. Only having to face Northwestern once — a team that returns a lot of talent after earning a 7-seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament — is an advantage. They don’t have to travel to Wisconsin, which should be decent this year. or Minnesota, which will probably be one of the worst teams in the Big Ten.

-Michigan will face Penn State at The Palestra in Philadelphia on Jan. 7, which opened in 1927. It’s the oldest major college arena still in use today, with more visiting teams and more NCAA Tournaments than any other facility. This is the only neutral-site conference game the Wolverines have.

-It’s hard to project how good some of these teams will be, but on paper, the toughest part of the schedule appears to be in February, when the Wolverines face Illinois and Northwestern on the road, and Michigan State and Purdue at home in a 12-day span from the 13th to the 25th.

All those teams made the tournament last year and are expected to be good again, and winning at least three of those games would be huge.

-In my opinion, Michigan’s biggest advantage comes at the end of the year with the March games.

That road game against Ohio State may be tough, but the Wolverines get a week to rest before ending the year at home against Nebraska, which has been one of the worst teams in the conference for a while. They’ll likely be favored in that game; winning that to close the year, plus all that time to get healthy before the Big Ten Tournament, is really advantageous for the Wolverines.

What are your thoughts on the schedule release? Let us know in the comments.