Michigan’s Big Ten opponents set for 2023-24 basketball season

The Big Ten has announced conference opponents for the 2023-24 season, which means we now know which conference foes Michigan will face at home, on the road, and most importantly, who the Wolverines will play twice.

Here is the complete list of Michigan’s conference opponents:

• Home: Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin
• Away: Maryland, Northwestern, Penn State
• Home/Away: Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Purdue, Rutgers

It’s hard to project what these Big Ten teams will look like when games start in about seven months, given how even the conference was last year and the sheer amount of roster turnover throughout all these programs. That being said, here are some quick takeaways from this announcement:

• I love that Michigan gets to play its arch rivals, Michigan State and Ohio State, twice. Rivalry games are fun, and winning them is a boost, especially on the road. Illinois is slowly turning into a rival, especially with the Illini being fairly successful in recent years and their fanbase talking endless amounts of trash despite a lack of NCAA tournament success. Playing them twice will be fun.
• The Wolverines getting to play Iowa and Purdue twice gives them more games against teams that are also March Madness mainstays. There have been some wild finishes at Iowa the last few seasons, so playing there should make for another entertaining game.
• Rutgers didn’t make the NCAA tournament last year, but that is another a solid program who should be competing for a tourney spot again; getting two chances to exact revenge from the brutal Big Ten Tournament loss that knocked Michigan out last month would be nice.
• Michigan doesn’t have to make road trips to two very tough places to play: Assembly Hall in Indiana and the Kohl Center in Wisconsin. The losses at those venues stung for Michigan quite a bit, so I’m glad they don’t have to head back there.

Once the conference schedule is over, the 14 Big Ten teams will participate in the Big Ten Tournament from March 13-17. That tournament will be played at the Target Center in Minnesota for the first time ever. What are your thoughts on Michigan’s conference schedule? Let us know in the comments below.