Penn State basketball opponents set for Big Ten 2022-23 slate
The dates are not yet set for Penn State basketball as it looks ahead to the 2022-23 Big Ten basketball schedule. Still, the conference’s release of home and away venues for conference opponent clarifies the second-year slate for head coach Micah Shrewsberry and company.
Announced Thursday afternoon by the Big Ten, the Nittany Lions will play both home and away games against seven conference opponents. Six others will be one-plays, three coming on the road and another three just once at home.
From the Penn State press release:
“Penn State will play home and away games against Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Purdue, Rutgers and Wisconsin in 2022-23. Indiana, Iowa and Michigan State will each visit the Bryce Jordan Center as Penn State’s home-only opponents. Away games for single-play opponents send Penn State to Minnesota, Northwestern and Ohio State.”
Breaking down Penn State’s Big Ten schedule
Without knowing the dates and times of Penn State’s Big Ten schedule, ball parking the overall difficulty is a challenge.
However, early prognostications of the league’s strengths and weaknesses suggest Penn State has a mixed bag at hand.
In Illinois, Michigan, Purdue, and Wisconsin, the Nittany Lions will face four opponents that have been among the top finishers in recent seasons and are expected to be again. Rutgers and Maryland are likely to be among the programs Penn State battles for relevance in the middle of the conference. And, Nebraska appears no closer to a break through in Fred Hoiberg’s fourth season with the Cornhuskers.
Meanwhile, Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan State all represent programs expected to finish in the top half of the conference. Penn State won’t need to travel to face any of them this season.
In Minnesota and Northwestern, Penn State’s single-play status comes as something of a set-back, though. The Nittany Lions notched four of nine total Big Ten wins against those two opponents last season.
Micah Shrewsberry’s outlook ahead of Year Two
Heading into his second year at Penn State, Shrewsberry hasn’t been shy about his optimism for what’s ahead. Welcoming the return of the program’s veterans this week, with the five-man Class of 2022 set to arrive this weekend, he said he’s excited for the coming weeks.
“It feels different going into year two. I don’t feel like my hair’s on fire,” Shrewsberry told BWI recently. “The continuity of having our staff back together another year. Having some players that will be back for year two, so now they’re a little more comfortable. Having more guys that now can teach. Last year, us coaches were teaching everything to them. Now us coaches are teaching, but those older guys are helping teach the younger guys and the new guys as well.
“So I think that continuity from year one to year two, we’re comfortable at the school now. Who’s gonna fit here? Who’s gonna have success here? Those are all questions that we had. We didn’t know, but now we have a way better feel of who can have success and how they can have success. So I feel good about the direction our program’s going.”
