Three takeaways from Nebraska basketball's 2023-24 Big Ten schedule
Nebraska basketball finally learned its 2023-24 Big Ten Conference schedule on Tuesday. Here are three immediate takeaways from the Huskers’ 20-game league slate…
Finally, Nebraska got some balance
For what seems like every season since Nebraska joined the Big Ten, it’s been handed one of two conference schedules. Either it’s frontloaded with all of the league’s best teams right out of the gates or backloaded with those opponents at the end of the year.
This season’s slate is actually pretty balanced.
The reality is that no game is “easy” during the grind of Big Ten play. But the Huskers avoided extended stretches of matchups against teams projected as preseason favorites.
The most difficult run may be at the start of the new year. Nebraska hosts Indiana on Jan. 3 and then travels to Wisconsin three days later on Jan. 6. Purdue comes to town three days after that, and then NU heads out for back-to-back road tilts at Iowa and Rutgers.
The Huskers got a decent December draw
The best part of Nebraska’s Big Ten slate is that it avoided playing one of the league’s best right out of the gate in December. The Huskers will open conference play at Minnesota on Wednesday, Dec. 6.
Even better, NU gets its single-play matchup with Michigan State at home on Sunday, Dec. 10. Having that one on a weekend while – hopefully – riding some non-con momentum is a notable advantage.
The Huskers play their two most challenging non-conference games during the first two weeks of December, hosting Creighton on Dec. 3 and going to Kansas State on Dec. 17.
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Again, nothing is easy in league play, but I’m sure head coach Fred Hoiberg will take that early draw.
NU gets five weekend home games
The difference between weekend and weekday games at Pinnacle Bank Arena is significant. Nebraska ended up with six of its 10 league home games on Saturdays and Sundays.
It starts with the Sunday, Dec. 6, game against Michigan State. More importantly, it ends with four straight weekend tilts at PBA to end the season.
Those are against Michigan (Saturday, Feb. 10), Penn State (Saturday, Feb. 17), Minnesota (Sunday, Feb. 25), and Rutgers (Sunday, March 3).
The Huskers hosted five weekend Big Ten home games last season and only three Saturday/Sunday games in 2021-22.
