Breakdown: Purdue basketball's Big Ten schedule
Purdue’s defense of its runaway Big Ten championship last season won’t be easy, even though the Boilermakers will be the decided preseason favorite to claim back-to-back regular season conference championships.
One scheduling break, for lack of a better term, has been known for some time, that Purdue will host the lone meeting with Michigan State, clearly its most formidable obstacle in the Big Ten race.
A look at the full Big Ten schedule, which will come on the heels of one of the strongest non-conference schedules in school history, probably the strongest …
Tip-off times and TV assignments — fair to suggest Purdue will get a good deal of prime-time placement — remains TBD.
More: The full Big Ten schedule
PURDUE BIG TEN SCHEDULE NOTES
• Indiana games: Jan. 16 at IU, then Feb. 10 at Purdue
• Michigan State’s visit to Mackey Arena — maybe the Super Bowl of the Big Ten season — is slated for March 2. Three-day turnaround, though, before a trip to Illinois.
• Both meetings with Illinois this season come on three-day turnarounds after premier games.
• The Boilermakers will not get to ease into the postseason or have a greased path in the final days of the conference title race: Its last four games: at Michigan, Michigan State at home, at Illinois, then Wisconsin at home. Tough slate leading into the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis.
• The all-important December double-header is at Northwestern Dec. 1, then Dec. 4 against Iowa in Mackey Arena. The travel slate around that time of year is ideal for the Boilermakers. The Iowa game is five days before Purdue travels to Toronto to play Alabama and there’s plenty of runway between its return from Honolulu (Nov. 22 being the last game) then a Nov. 28 buy game vs. Texas Southern, followed by the (bus) trip to Northwestern.
• Another big one: Purdue resumes Big Ten play Jan. 2 with a trip to Maryland. There is a really short-around after that before Illinois visits Mackey Arena three days later. Illinois plays Jan. 2 as well, hosting Northwestern.
• Only one set of back-to-back roadies for Purdue: Jan. 16 at IU, then Jan. 20 at Iowa. Three-day turnaround after Iowa before the Boilermakers host Michigan.
• Purdue will have all its outside-the-region road trips — Maryland, Nebraska and Rutgers — done by the end of January.
