All week the national conversation has centered around Ohio State and Wisconsin.
Two Big Ten stalwarts with an opportunity to perhaps play for a national championship. The game tips off at 5 p.m. at the Kohl Center, a venue the Buckeyes have won in just four times since it opened in 1998.
Oh, the discussion was about the Big Ten football championship game? Of course.
But there is a basketball game between the two schools. In December of all months.
In fact, there’s a full slate of Big Ten conference basketball games this weekend (Michigan hosts Indiana at 12:30 p.m. Saturday).
Each team will play twice — one home game and one road game — with one day off in between. Teams will play on Friday-Sunday, Saturday-Monday, or Sunday-Tuesday, a plan that was hatched by coaches and approved by athletic directors.
“It was quite a challenge,” said Mark Rudner, the Big Ten’s senior associate commissioner for television administration. “But we had great cooperation from our network partners, our coaches, and our institutions. They all wanted us to find a reasonable solution, and I think we did.”
The reason for the unprecedented schedule is the Big Ten setting up shop in New York. The Big Ten tournament will be played at Madison Square Garden for the first time, and because the building is booked the second week of March for the Big East, the Big Ten moved up its conference tournament so it could be played at the Mecca of Basketball.
“We're excited to be in New York City at the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden,” Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said. “We thought this would be a unique opportunity for our players and our fans and our coaches. And our coaches and administrators evaluated it, made some changes, and we're here.”
An additional 16 conference games per team will be played during a 55-day span between Jan. 2 and Feb. 25. Only four days will be devoid of Big Ten basketball. Because of the earlier conference tournament date, Big Ten teams will have a week off between the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments.
If you love college basketball, mark off Jan. 9 through Feb. 1, when there will be 24 consecutive days of Big Ten games.
Fox’s entry into Big Ten basketball coverage is another component to the condensed schedule. The network joins ESPN, CBS, and Big Ten Network, which meant the conference added Monday and Friday games.
The Buckeyes play two Monday games and one on Friday. Michigan plays three Monday games. The rivals meet this Monday in Columbus.
The Super Bowl in Minneapolis impacted Minnesota’s possible home dates — the Gophers go 13 days without a home game in late January and early February — and Northwestern, which is playing at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., while Welsh-Ryan Arena undergoes a $110 million renovation, could only provide select dates because it is not the primary tenant.
There will be 20 instances where teams have a one-day turnaround between conference games, excluding the December slate, an unheard of situation for the Big Ten, which had only one such tight window last season. Indiana drew the short end of the stick, having four such one off day games — and the Hoosiers are the road team in the second of the two games three times.
“It’s made the schedule a little bit funky, a little bit different, but that's OK,” Minnesota coach Richard Pitino said. “Anybody who has played in [Madison Square Garden] knows the opportunity that it presents and how special it is. And sometimes you've got to sacrifice a little bit.”
Among the other quirks: Some teams will play three consecutive road games, Indiana-Purdue and Michigan-Michigan State only play once, and the Wolverines’ final home game is Feb. 18.
In January, Michigan has an 18-day, five-game stretch at Purdue, vs. Northwestern and Minnesota, and at Northwestern and Wisconsin. All four opponents are predicted to finish near the top of the Big Ten standings.
“It’s really going to be difficult,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “I think the biggest thing is going to be about rest.”
The Wolverines’ entire season has the feel of a never-ending slog. They were in Hawaii for the Maui Invitational during the week of Thanksgiving, traveled to North Carolina after a couple days home to play the No. 13-ranked Tar Heels, they host Indiana on Saturday, play at Ohio State on Monday, host 25th-ranked UCLA on Dec. 9, and play at Texas on Dec. 12.
Michigan will get a two-week reprieve of Detroit, Alabama A&M, and Jacksonville before the Big Ten meatgrinder.
“We know during that time, time off our feet is going to be more important than practice,” Beilein said. “It’s really challenging. Obviously we set that up with UCLA and Texas before we knew we’d be playing [Indiana and Ohio State]. But we embraced that sudden change, and we're going to do the best we can. I know we’ll be really prepared for the second semester based on that schedule.”
Ohio State and first-year coach Chris Holtmann have a grueling start to the New Year, playing three road games in seven days from Jan. 14-20. Welcome to the Big Ten.
“It’s not a perfect schedule,” Rudner said. “But we think it’s a schedule that will be to the benefit of our conference, the fans, and especially the students.”
One positive to the early December games is students are on campus for the conference opener, something that wasn’t true in the past.
Preparing will never be more difficult for coaches, and some elements could stick around. Rudner said there’s a strong possibility December conference games could become the norm, and Monday and Friday games also are likely to continue.
The 2019 Big Ten tournament is in Chicago at the normal placement on the March calendar, so the schedule won’t be as compact. But there is yet another wrench thrown in: 20 conference games.
The elephant in the room for the current season remains the week-long gap between the Big Ten tournament and NCAA tournament. Whether it’s advantageous or a disadvantage can overanalyzed by critics on either side of the debate. About half the conferences already have a pause in their schedule before the postseason.
It’s just another quandary in a Big Ten basketball season like no other.
“Personally, I don't mind the week off, because I've experienced it when I was at Wichita State,” Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said. “It actually helped us. Going into the [NCAA] tournament, we were able to get fresh, put in a lot of new plays. We could disguise a few things, steal a few buckets, so to speak. So I don't have a problem with it.
“Ask me in March, if we're lucky enough to be in the [NCAA] tournament, I might have a different answer.”
Contact Kyle Rowland at: krowland@theblade.com, 419-724-6110, or on Twitter @KyleRowland.
First Published December 1, 2017, 11:52 p.m.
