Ohio State basketball: Looking at Big Ten opponents

The Ohio State basketball team had its Big Ten schedule released yesterday. It gives us an opportunity to look at where these games will be and who they have to face twice as opposed to only once. Here are some of the most important games for the Buckeyes.

Looking at teams that the Buckeyes will face twice, they will take on IU, TTUN, Nebraska, Penn State, Rutgers, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. All of those teams are decent but none of them are great, but the same could be said for the Buckeyes as well.

As far as teams that the Buckeyes will only get once at the Schott this season, those opponents will be Illinois, Maryland, and Purdue. Those are traditionally three of the toughest teams in the Big Ten so that’s a massive advantage for what will be a young Ohio State basketball team.

The teams that they will only face on the road are Iowa, Michigan State, and Northwestern. Ohio State did beat Northwestern in Evanston last year but lost to both the Spartans and Hawkeyes on the road. Those two games will not be easy once again.

This is the final season in which the Buckeyes will not be playing USC and UCLA as part of the Big Ten. They will join the fold in basketball starting in the 2024-25 season. Adding those two will make travel a lot more complicated for some of these teams.

There’s still quite a bit of time before the season starts. The Buckeyes could still add someone to their recruiting class. It’s nice to see who the opponents are though. Before we know it, the basketball season will be here once again.