Breaking News: Michigan Basketball’s 2025-26 Big Ten Conference opponents revealed
While we are more than six months away from the start of the 2025-26 college basketball season, we now know which Big Ten opponents the Michigan men’s basketball team will face at home, on the road, and in some cases, both next season.
Announced by the Big Ten on Tuesday, the Wolverines will face the Michigan State Spartans, Ohio State Buckeyes and Penn State Nittany Lions two times next season. Michigan is set to face every team in the Big Ten at least once — here are their opponents:
Home: Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin
Away: Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Northwestern, Oregon, Purdue, Washington
Home/Away: Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State
Dates have yet to be announced for these games and won’t be announced until September. Most of the rosters of the teams above haven’t been finalized yet, with several players still in the portal and nearly all these schools still having scholarship spots to fill.
Until then, here’s some quick analysis for Michigan’s schedule.
While football is a whole different discussion, it’s been clear over the last two decades Michigan’s biggest rival in basketball is Michigan State, so props to the Big Ten for protecting that rivalry. I can almost guarantee you both those games will be played in primetime on Saturday nights or on Sunday afternoons, with those games always doing great ratings.
That said, I don’t get the logic in playing Ohio State twice. Yes, it makes sense logistically and the hatred between the two programs is real, but it’s not nearly as intense in basketball as it is in football. That shouldn’t be a protected rivalry in hoops. In my opinion, the only opponent that Michigan needs to play twice every year is Michigan State.
On paper, Michigan playing Ohio State and Penn State twice is an advantage for the Wolverines. Of course, a lot can change between now and the start of the season, but both schools did not make the NCAA Tournament last season and haven’t done much in the transfer portal. Michigan having to play Purdue or Illinois twice, for example, would make this schedule a lot more daunting.
The Wolverines made the California trip this past season, beating both UCLA and USC in the span of a week. They don’t have to make that trip this year, but they do have to travel to face a perenially underrated Oregon program and a Washington team that finished last in the conference this season.
With the home matchups above, Michigan doesn’t have to play in two of the toughest places to play in the conference — Assembly Hall (Indiana) and the Kohl Center (Wisconsin). Of course, road tripping to those venues may have been fun for fans, but only having to play those teams at homes is an advantage.
On paper — and I can’t stress this enough, a LOT can change between now and this fall in college basketball — the toughest matchups for the Wolverines appear to be at Purdue, at Illinois and at Maryland. Michigan winning at least two of those three games would help boost its tournament resume. Purdue brings back the likely pre-season Player of the Year in Braden Smith, Illinois has been very active in the portal, and Buzz Williams is a real good coach who should be able to give Maryland a puncher’s chance in the Big Ten.
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