6 takeaways from Ohio State's full Big Ten men's basketball schedule
The schedule, or at least the dates for games, has finally arrived. A mere 71 days before Big Ten play begins, the league has announced its full 2023-24 men’s basketball conference schedule.
There were plenty of hang-ups delaying this year’s schedule. With multiple new broadcast partners to work with, the process of determining which networks will get which games and when they will be played was more convoluted than ever. To that point: the release does not yet include tip times or broadcast information for any of the games.
It has all added up to a lengthier wait (one further exacerbated by a Big Ten Today broadcast purported to unveil the schedule that was short on games announced and long on commentator Dave Wannstedt asking Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh about a haircut he had years ago) than Big Ten fans are accustomed to. The Big Ten will open conference play with two Dec. 1 games, and Ohio State’s league schedule will get underway two days later with a home date against Minnesota.
Here are a few thoughts about the full Ohio State men’s basketball schedule for the 2023-24 season.
Get ready for some home Big Ten weekend games
There were plenty of on-court issues to address from a season that finished 16-19, but when it came to the schedule Ohio State men’s basketball coach Chris Holtmann had a primary complaint about his 2022-23 Big Ten slate. Holtmann, like most coaches, wanted more home conference games that would be played on weekends.
This year, at least, Holtmann got his wish. Five of Ohio State’s 10 home games will be played on weekends, starting with a Big Ten opener against Minnesota on Sunday, Dec. 3. After that, the Buckeyes will get Penn State on Saturday, Jan. 20, Maryland on Saturday, Feb. 10, Purdue on Sunday, Feb. 18 and Michigan on Sunday, March 3, in the final home games of the season.
On the flipside, Ohio State also plays five road weekend conference games: at Penn State on Saturday, Dec. 9, at Indiana on Saturday, Jan. 6, at Northwestern on Saturday, Jan. 27, at Michigan State on Feb. 25 and at Rutgers on Sunday, March 10 – the final game of the season. The Buckeyes also play at Iowa on Feb. 2, a Friday.
It’s more in line than last year’s schedule, which saw Ohio State play seven weekend road games in the Big Ten and host only Iowa, Michigan State and Illinois. The Buckeyes went 5-15 in Big Ten play but were 2-1 in home weekend games.
This six-game stretch could decide the season
Ohio State will hit the midpoint of the conference schedule when it welcomes Illinois to Value City Arena on Jan. 30. The game will follow a two-game road swing at Nebraska and Northwestern, but it will also begin what figures to be a critical stretch for the Buckeyes.
Starting with the game against the Fighting Illini, Ohio State will play six games against teams that either made the NCAA Tournament last season or narrowly missed it – and even that one is a stiff challenge. The Buckeyes will go to Iowa on Feb. 2 (No. 8 seed last year) and host Indiana (No. 4 seed) and Maryland (No. 8 seed) on Feb. 6 and 10, respectively, before going to Wisconsin on Feb. 13. The Badgers were knocked to the wrong side of the bubble by the Buckeyes in the Big Ten Tournament and return just about everybody from a team that made a deep NIT run.
Then, it’s a home date with projected Big Ten favorite (and No. 1 seed) Purdue on Feb. 18. Add in that Jan. 27 game at Northwestern (No. 7 seed) and it’s a midseason gauntlet that will either set Ohio State up for meaningful games in the final days of February or leave it gasping for air in the middle or bottom of the league standings.
Welcome to Ohio State, Big Ten transfers
The Buckeyes have landed the most intraconference transfers since transfer rules have been relaxed in recent years, and this year’s team features two: Minnesota’s Jamison Battle and Penn State’s Evan Mahaffey.
Neither will have to wait long to face their previous school. Battle will go against the Golden Gophers when Minnesota comes to Value City Arena on Dec. 3 in the Big Ten opener for both teams, and six days later Mahaffey will go to Penn State for a return to the Bryce Jordan Center.
Both players will get to face their prior schools twice: Penn State comes to Ohio State on Jan. 20, while Battle will return to Williams Arena on Feb. 22.
Ohio State playing on a rare date on the calendar
The Buckeyes will close February with a Thursday night home game against Nebraska – a game that will be played on Feb. 29. This will be the seventh time Ohio State has played on Leap Year Day and the first time since the 2011-12 season. That year, No. 10 Ohio State won at Northwestern, 75-73.
December looks favorable for Ohio State
While it’s entirely fair to question what Ohio State will be after finishing next to last in the Big Ten a season ago, its early slate of conference games appears to be navigable on paper. In Minnesota and Penn State, Ohio State’s two December Big Ten games will be against a team that finished last in the league last year and another that is expected to be rebuilding under first-year coach Mike Rhoades.
Those projections could ultimately mean nothing. Minnesota went 2-17 in the Big Ten last year and one of the wins was at Value City Arena, and Rhoades went 49-18 in the last two seasons at VCU. Nothing is a guarantee for an Ohio State team trying to rebound from last year’s finish, but it feels fair to say that games against Minnesota and Penn State are more preferable for another young Buckeyes roster than, say, opening with Purdue and/or Michigan State.
Ohio State Buckeyes: Join the Ohio State Sports Insider text group with Bill Rabinowitz, Joey Kaufman Adam Jardy
No senior day at Michigan State
The Breslin Center is home to one of the most formidable homecourt advantages in not just Big Ten basketball but across the sport. At no point is that more clear than on senior day – a lesson Ohio State knows all too well.
Last season, Michigan State beat visiting Ohio State, 84-78, in the final game of the Big Ten season for both teams. It was the second time in four years and third in eight years that the Buckeyes have played at Michigan State on senior day, and the Spartans have won all three of those games. The Breslin Center is the only Big Ten arena where Holtmann has not coached an Ohio State win.
The two play each other just once this year, and although it’s not on senior day it is at Michigan State and it’s a weekend game. The Spartans host the Buckeyes on Feb. 25.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 6 takeaways from Ohio State's Big Ten men's basketball schedule
