After Mark Turgeon developed a reputation for underwhelming non-conference schedules as the head coach of Maryland men’s basketball, Kevin Willard has made a strong first impression to change that.
This year’s schedule includes a home game with #8 UCLA, a road game against Louisville and neutral site games against #11 Tennessee in Brooklyn and a meeting with Miami (FL) or Providence in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off.
It’s a solid slate that includes two preseason Top 25 teams, as well as a chance to face a team that made the Sweet 16 last year with either Miami or Providence.
To put this schedule in context, let’s examine some of the Big Ten’s other non-conference schedules to see how they compare to Maryland.
Michigan State’s strength of schedule is blowing everyone out of the water
When looking at the other 13 Big Ten non-conference schedules, there is one school that easily has the most impressive slate: Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans.
After getting their feet wet with an easy matchup against Northern Arizona, the Spartans will most likely be playing seven straight games against either a power conference opponent or #2 Gonzaga.
Their gauntlet begins with playing the Zags on a San Diego aircraft carrier before facing #4 Kentucky in Indianapolis and hosting #16 Villanova in East Lansing for the Gavitt Games.
This trio of games by itself would be enough to give MSU one of the most impressive non-conference schedules in the sport, but the Spartans will follow up that three-game stretch with an eight-team tournament in Portland hosted by Nike.
They’ll begin with #20 Alabama and then could potentially face #21 Oregon and #1 North Carolina depending on how the rest of the bracket shakes out. There’s also the amusing possibility they could run into Villanova two times in two weeks. Regardless, MSU should get three games on a neutral floor against power conference schools barring a surprising encounter with the West Coast Conference’s Portland Pilots.
On top of all of that, MSU will also be traveling to South Bend to face Notre Dame for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The Spartans are unranked in the preseason top 25. However, they’ll certainly have plenty of chances to demonstrate they should be ranked with their incredibly strong non-conference slate.
Minnesota and Rutgers have pretty unimpressive schedules
In contrast to the gauntlet faced by Michigan State, Minnesota and Rutgers look to have the two least challenging slates in the conference.
Minnesota will be hosting DePaul and Mississippi State while visiting Virginia Tech, giving them just three games against power conference schools. None of the three teams are ranked and only Virginia Tech made the NCAA tournament last year. DePaul and Mississippi State both ended up the year with losing records in conference, further making this a weak slate.
What makes Minnesota’s non-conference schedule especially curious is they’re playing a neutral-site four-team tournament, but none of the other teams are from a power conference. The SoCal Challenge will see Minnesota face California Baptist and then either Southern Illinois or UNLV. It’s certainly quite the contrast to see Minnesota’s neutral site opponents compared to those of MSU or Maryland.
As for Rutgers, they’ll at least be playing a pair of teams who made the NCAA tournament last year when they visit Miami and host Seton Hall. However, their only other meeting with a power conference school will be against Wake Forest at home. They have a neutral site meeting with the AAC’s Temple but I don’t think anyone outside of the AAC considers it to be a power conference.
Two, maybe three Big Ten teams, will be playing Duke this year
When Maryland swapped conferences for the 2014-15 school year, it meant the end of their annual meetings in conference play with #7 Duke. Unsurprisingly, this was a controversial decision and it certainly seems like some fans are never going to be happy with giving up those games.
Adding to the intrigue of Maryland and Duke splitting up is they’ve never run into each other in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. This will be Maryland’s ninth season in the Big Ten and they are still yet to see Duke in the annual cross-conference matchup. Since 2014-15, Duke has faced five different Big Ten schools, including Indiana three times, in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
On top of their meeting with Ohio State, the Blue Devils will also be facing Iowa at Madison Square Garden for the Jimmy V Classic and could also encounter Purdue in an eight-team tournament.
Maryland never ended up facing Duke as a Big Ten team with Mike Krzyzewski on the sidelines, but perhaps the new leadership of Jon Scheyer would be more open to a reunion with the Terps. After all, Scheyer played against Maryland nine times from 2006 to 2010 and earned plenty of attention from the student section.
Michigan is going across the pond
It’s normal for non-conference schedules to include destinations outside the United States to places like the Bahamas, however, a trip to London certainly feels more unique.
On December 4, #22 Michigan will be playing against Kentucky at London’s O2 Arena in a matchup that will see Michigan traveling just a bit further than they would for a visit to College Park or Piscataway, NJ.
As for other teams leaving the continental United States, Northwestern will be playing Cancun, Ohio State will be visiting Maui and Wisconsin will be in the Bahamas.
Meanwhile, Maryland is opting for much more modest road trips for neutral sites, only playing in Brooklyn and Connecticut.
BSL Analyst
Rose Katz is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland’s journalism school, where she worked for The Diamondback as the online managing editor and a sports blogger. As a student, she spent almost all of her time on campus in The Diamondback’s newsroom or at Xfinity Center, Ludwig Field and Maryland Stadium. Rose gained intern experience with the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN).