Big Ten opponents, locations for Michigan's first season under Dusty May revealed
The Michigan Wolverines‘ first set of Big Ten opponents under new head coach Dusty May were revealed on Wednesday afternoon, giving us an idea of what the new-look program will take on in year one.
The Big Ten has four new teams joining for the 2024-25 season in USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon, and will stay with a 20-game conference schedule. For the Big Ten Tournament, 15 of the 18 teams in the conference will receive a spot in the event.
Michigan will have home-only games against Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Northwestern, Oregon, Penn State and Washington. It plays single road games with Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio State, UCLA, USC and Wisconsin. Home-and-home games will take place against rival Michigan State, Purdue and Rutgers.
Here’s how it breaks down:
Home: Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Northwestern, Oregon, Penn State, Washington
Away: Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin
Home/Away: Michigan State, Purdue, Rutgers
Dates, game times and television designations will be revealed at a later date.
May has stated from the jump that he plans on putting a competitive team on the floor at Michigan, which he appears to have largely done through his transfer portal additions. FAU center Vlad Goldin, North Texas guard Rubin Jones, Ohio State guard Roddy Gayle Jr., Auburn point guard Tre Donaldson and Alabama forward Sam Walters headline the additions.
There is still work to do, but the goal remains the same for May.
“I do think year one is important for putting a product on the floor that people want to be a part of, and that means a lot of things,” May said during his introductory press conference. “How the players interact with each other, the connection between them, the connection between them and the students in the fan base. I do feel that we need to put a good team on the court from from day one, in year one and then continue to build. Therefore we’ll sign some high school players, we’ll sign some portal players, but also having some continuity where it’s not a roster overhaul every year.
“There won’t be a point when we just throw in the towel and say we’re not going to be competitive this year because it’s year one. We want to win and we want to be able to to to sell that going forward what we were able to do in year one.”
