Penn State basketball full schedule set with B1G slate release
The second season of the Micah Shrewsberry era at Penn State is now set. Announced Thursday afternoon, the Big Ten conference revealed opponents and dates for its full league schedule.
And the Nittany Lions have another doozy on their hands.
Penn State basketball Big Ten schedule
Once again the conference is whetting appetites with a two-game set in the middle of nonconference play. In Penn State’s case, it means a Dec. 7 date with Michigan State at the Bryce Jordan Center followed by a Saturday, Dec. 10 trip to Illinois.
Resuming league play on the back side of three final nonconference games, the Nittany Lions pick back up in the new year. The task gets no easier from there, either.
Taking on Iowa at the BJC on New Year’s Day, then traveling to Michigan on the 4th, Penn State is taking a home game back to its home-away-from-home against a familiar opponent. Setting up a trip to Philadelphia’s famed Palestra, the Nittany Lions will play “host” to Purdue on Sunday, Jan. 8. Penn State has also knocked off Iowa and Michigan State in conference games at the Palestra in recent seasons.
After a Wednesday return to the BJC against Indiana, Penn State will take six days off before resuming action at Wisconsin on Tuesday, Jan. 17. The Nittany Lions will then get their only Saturday home game of the conference schedule, hosting Nebraska on Saturday, Jan. 21.
Penn State will hit the road for three-of-four on the back side of its date with the Cornhuskers. That includes trips to Rutgers (Jan. 24), Purdue (Feb. 1), and Nebraska (Feb. 5) sandwiched around a Sunday, Jan. 29 home date with Michigan.
The rest of February includes home dates for Penn State with Wisconsin (Feb. 8), Illinois (Feb. 14), and Rutgers (Feb. 26), interspersed with road trips to Maryland (Feb. 11), Minnesota (Feb. 18), and Ohio State (Feb. 23).
Penn State will close out the conference schedule with a trip to Evanston, Ill., to take on Northwestern (March 1) and close out the regular season against Maryland back at the BJC on Sunday, March 5.
Penn State full schedule (home games in bold):
Nov. 7 – Winthrop
Nov. 10 – Loyola
Nov. 14 – Butler
Nov. 17 – Furman (Charleston Classic)
Nov. 18 – TBA
Nov. 19 – TBA
Nov. 25 – Lafayette
Nov. 29 – at Clemson (B1G/ACC Challenge)
Dec. 7 – Michigan State
Dec. 10 – at Illinois
Dec. 18 – Canisius
Dec. 22 – Quinnipiac
Dec. 29 – Delaware State
Jan. 1 – Iowa
Jan. 4 – at Michigan
Jan. 8 – Purdue (at the Palestra)
Jan. 11 – Indiana
Jan. 17 – at Wisconsin
Jan. 21 – Nebraska
Jan. 24 – at Rutgers
Jan. 29 – Michigan
Feb. 1 – at Purdue
Feb. 5 – at Nebraska
Feb. 8 – Wisconsin
Feb. 11 – at Maryland
Feb. 14 – Illinois
Feb. 18 – at Minnesota
Feb. 23 – at Ohio State
Feb. 26 – Rutgers
Mar. 1 – at Northwestern
Mar. 5 – Maryland
Evaluating the Big Ten schedule
Long a point of contention with the conference schedule makers, this year’s lineup remains a mixed bag, at best.
To begin with Michigan State and at Illinois in December is, of course, a brutal way to begin. The Illini are expected to contend to win the league title and, in Tom Izzo’s Spartans, the Nittany Lions always face an uphill climb.
In compiling a relatively manageable nonconference slate, needing to acclimate five true freshmen and three transfers to the roster, the December Big Ten two-game set shouldn’t necessarily serve as a major disruption to that progress and development.
Qualms will arise, however, with Penn State’s lack of Saturday home games. Long a struggle to bring fans into the State College area for weeknight games, the program banks on Saturday (specifically) weekend dates to draw its biggest crowds.
This year, Penn State has just one such date, welcoming Nebraska to the BJC on Saturday, Jan. 21. (The game hits on the same day as an ice hockey tilt at Pegula Ice Arena between the Nittany Lions and Notre Dame at 5 p.m.)
To the contrary, Penn State will travel for three Saturday games at away conference arenas. They’ll include Illinois in December, and back-to-back Saturday trips to Maryland and Minnesota.
