At Long Last, Indiana's Full Men's Basketball Schedule Released

The balance of Indiana's men's basketball schedule, including 20 Big Ten conference games, was announced on Wednesday. The regular season starts on Nov. 25 and ends at Purdue on March 6.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — After months of delays, Indiana's men's basketball schedule was released late Wednesday afternoon, and it's loaded with plenty of dates to circle on the calendar.

The school released the schedule at 5 p.m. Here is the release:

Bloomington, Ind. — The Big Ten Conference announced its 2020-21 league schedule and also the start time and TV designation for Wednesday night’s opener against Tennessee Tech. The season opening contest will begin at 8 p.m. and air on the Big Ten Network. IU will open the conference season on December 23 at home against Northwestern and will close the campaign March 6 at Purdue.

The Hoosiers will play home and home games with Northwestern (Dec. 23 and Feb. 10), Illinois (Dec. 26 and Feb. 2), Purdue (Jan. 14 and March 6), Michigan State (Jan. 17 and Feb. 20), Iowa (Jan. 21 and Feb. 7), Rutgers (Jan. 24 and Feb. 24), and Michigan (Jan. 30 and Feb. 27). 

Home only games will be played against Penn State (Dec. 30), Maryland (Jan. 4) and Minnesota (Feb. 17). Games on the road only will be played at Wisconsin (Jan. 7), at Nebraska (Jan. 10) and at Ohio State (Feb. 13). 

Complete start times and TV designations will be released at a later date. As many as 15 games are scheduled against teams ranked in the AP Preseason Poll.

Indiana will play three Big Ten games in December, They will play Northwestern (Dec. 23) and Penn State (Dec. 30) at home and will travel to play Illinois on Dec. 26.

The in-state rivalry games with Purdue are Jan. 14 in Bloomington and March 6 in West Lafayette to end the season.

The conference season featured four games to be played on Christmas Day for the first time ever. Over the course of the conference season, schools will play seven teams twice — once at home and once on the road — and six teams once, with three of those games being at home and the other three away. 

To allow for maximum flexibility in the potential rescheduling of games, this year’s schedule is built with two sets of collapsible byes during the weeks of Jan. 18-21 and Jan. 25-28, and the weeks of Feb. 22-25 and March 1-5.

The Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament will be played March 10-14 at the United Center in Chicago.

Big Ten men’s basketball teams will follow the same medical protocols that were developed by the Big Ten Return to Competition Task Force and announced on Sept. 16, 2020. These protocols include daily antigen testing, enhanced cardiac screening and an enhanced data-driven approach when making decisions about practice/competition.

There's no question that Indiana's Big Ten basketball schedule will be brutal. Of the seven teams the Hoosiers play twice, only Purdue and Northwestern aren't ranked in the AP preseason poll. Double dips with Iowa (No. 5), Illinois (8), Michigan State (13), Rutgers (24) and Michigan (25) all tough. 

Indiana 2020-21 Basketball Schedule

DATE — DAY — OPPONENT — SITE — TIME — TV

Nov. 25 (Wednesday) — Tennessee Tech Bloomington, Ind. 8 p.m. BTN

Maui Invitational

• Nov. 30 (Monday) — Providence Asheville, N.C. 2:30 p.m. ESPN/2/U
• Dec. 1 (Tuesday) — Texas/Davidson TBA
• Dec. 2 (Wednesday) — North Carolina/UNLV/Stanford/Alabama TBA

ACC/Big Ten Challenge

• Dec. 9 (Wednesday) — at Florida State Tallahassee, Fla. TBA ESPN/2/U

Dec. 13 (Sunday) — North Alabama Bloomington, Ind. TBA TBA

Crossroads Classic

• Dec. 19 (Saturday)  — Butler Indianapolis, Ind. TBA TBA

Dec. 23 (Wednesday) —  Northwestern Bloomington, Ind.

Dec. 26 (Saturday) — at Illinois Champaign, Ill.

Dec. 30 (Wednesday)  — Penn State Bloomington, Ind.

Jan. 4 (Monday) — Maryland Bloomington, Ind.

Jan.7 (Thursday) — at Wisconsin Madison, Wis.

Jan. 10 (Sunday) — at Nebraska Lincoln, Neb.

Jan.14 (Thursday) —  Purdue Bloomington, Ind.

Jan. 17 (Sunday) — at Michigan State East Lansing, Mich.

Jan. 21 (Thursday) —  at Iowa Iowa City, Iowa

Jan. 24 (Sunday) —  Rutgers Bloomington, Ind.

Jan. 30 (Saturday) — at Michigan Ann Arbor, Mich.

Feb. 2 (Tuesday) — Illinois Bloomington, Ind.

Feb. 7 (Sunday) — Iowa Bloomington, Ind.

Feb.10 (Wednesday) —  at Northwestern Evanston, Ill.

Feb. 13 (Saturday) — at Ohio State Columbus, Ohio

Feb. 17 (Wednesday)  — Minnesota Bloomington, Ind.

Feb.20 (Saturday) — Michigan State Bloomington, Ind.

Feb. 24 (Wednesday) — at Rutgers Piscataway, N.J.

Feb. 27 (Saturday)  — Michigan Bloomington, Ind.

March 6 (Saturday) — at Purdue West Lafayette, Ind.

March 10-14 — Big Ten Tournament, United Center, Chicago, Ill.