Men's basketball: Big Ten unveils 2017-18 conference schedule

The Big Ten Conference released the 2017-18 men’s basketball conference schedule, giving Ohio State first-year coach Chris Holtmann his first look at a packed calendar, which features two games in December and home-and-homes with Michigan and Indiana.

The Big Ten was forced to schedule two conference games in early December due to the conference tournament being played at Madison Square Garden in New York, the week before the NCAA Tournament is unveiled in March. Traditionally, the Big Ten tournament has been the final conference tournament to end before the NCAA selection show.

Ohio State will open Big Ten play with a trip to Madison, Wisconsin, on Dec. 2 for its only date with the Badgers, which follows the Phil Knight Invitational in Oregon and the Big Ten/ACC Challenge game against Clemson. Then the Buckeyes play at home two days later versus Michigan.

Holtmann and his team will play one game at home against Michigan State (Jan. 7), Maryland (Jan. 11), Nebraska (Jan. 22) and Illinois (Feb. 4), and they will play one game on the road against Wisconsin, Northwestern (Jan. 17), Minnesota (Jan. 20) and Purdue (Feb. 7).

Ohio State’s conference opponents it will face twice are Michigan, Indiana, Rutgers, Penn State and Iowa.

The Buckeyes have three consecutive road games from Jan. 14 to Jan. 20 followed by a four-game home stand from Jan. 22 to Feb. 4. Ohio State will end the season at Indiana, Holtmann’s third away game in four games.