Analyzing The Big Ten's Non-Conference Schedules For 2016-17

If you visit many of SB Nation's Big Ten team blogs and do a search for "non-conference" schedule, you're bound to run into a post or two criticizing a team's non-conference scheduling. Here's an Iowa one. Here's one about Northwestern. And another. Hey! Maryland's new, maybe they'll be different?! Nope. Perhaps you'd like to read a piece from The Champaign Room calling out a good chunk of the league for not scheduling a game worthy of a Top 14 list?

After spending a Sunday afternoon writing this post, I fully understand these frustrations. And these schedules, which my metrics also dislike, largely won't make up for some of the Big Ten's recent postseason issues. I'm not just talking about the conference's title drought, which now stands at 16 years. No, my criticism extends to how these weak schedules affect NCAA and NIT selection. Just look at last season, when Ohio State didn't make the field of 68 despite 11 conference wins and Northwestern received no NIT interest despite recording 20 wins. In both cases, the snubs were directly related to the teams' respective non-conference schedules. (Yes, the NIT is that competitive now, particularly in seasons where conference regular season champs run into trouble during Championship Week, as happened in 2016.)

After reviewing this year's slates, expect similar problems in March 2017.

For a full explanation of this series' methodology and what these rankings mean (and why certain games appear twice with strikethroughs), check out the intro piece.

Update 10/10/16: While finishing the Mountain West post, I noticed that San Diego State added a home game against Savannah State since I first started it. Therefore, scores and rankings have been updated as a result.

Update 10/11/16: While reviewing the Pac-12's schedules again for that post, I noticed that Oregon added not one but two games since I started—one against (drumroll) Savannah State (!) and another against non-D1 Western Washington. That really shook up the standings and averages, so these have again been updated.

Mean Schedule Ranking

Team	Opponent Score	Distance From Average (1.406)	At-Large Pool Rank (out of 135)	Big Ten Rank (out of 14)
Michigan State	1.648	+0.242	17	1
Nebraska	1.548	+0.141	35	2
Penn State	1.540	+0.134	37	3
Purdue	1.463	+0.057	52	4
Wisconsin	1.388	-0.018	73	5
Iowa	1.323	-0.083	83	6
Illinois	1.292	-0.115	89	7
Michigan	1.276	-0.131	98	8
Ohio State	1.240	-0.166	100	9
Maryland	1.232	-0.174	104	10
Rutgers	1.185	-0.221	109	11
Northwestern	1.168	-0.248	114	12
Minnesota	1.139	-0.267	119	13
Indiana	1.118	-0.288	127	14
Big Ten Average	1.326	-0.081	8 of 9*

* AAC, A 10, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, MW, Pac-12, and SEC

Out of the nine conferences I'm analyzing separately in this series, the Big Ten ranks second from the bottom in all three rankings. Only five squads have average opponents scores higher than the national average, with more teams—six—ranking 100th or worse. In many cases, anywhere from four to eight opponents—cupcakes Big Ten squads should not be scheduling at all—drive the scores down.

As usual, Michigan State leads the way, but a trip to Navy (even if it's for the right reasons) and four terrible home games keep the Spartans at the very edge of the top 20 nationally. At the other end of the scale, an Indiana squad dinged for its schedule when seedings came out last March put itself in position to have the same problem this time around.

Best-Case (Maximum) Schedule Ranking

Team	Opponent Score	Distance From Average (1.445)	At-Large Pool Rank (out of 135)	Big Ten Rank (out of 14)
Michigan State	1.680	+0.235	19	1
Nebraska	1.647	+0.203	27	2
Penn State	1.558	+0.113	45	3
Purdue	1.483	+0.039	60	4
Wisconsin	1.458	+0.013	64	5
Iowa	1.331	-0.114	86	6
Illinois	1.296	-0.149	95	7
Michigan	1.279	-0.165	98	8
Maryland	1.265	-0.179	103	9
Ohio State	1.240	-0.205	106	10
Rutgers	1.185	-0.260	116	11
Northwestern	1.177	-0.268	118	12
Minnesota	1.139	-0.305	126	13
Indiana	1.118	-0.326	130	14
Big Ten Average	1.347	-0.098	8 of 9*

* AAC, A 10, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, MW, Pac-12, and SEC

Note that three of the Big Ten's 14 teams—Indiana, Minnesota, and Rutgers—are participating in round-robin exempt events, so their scores will remain stable in all three rankings. That's not good for any of the three, as their scores all plummet when compared to their conference rivals who are participating in bracketed events.

Worst-Case (Minimum) Schedule Ranking

Team	Opponent Score	Distance From Average (1.360)	At-Large Pool Rank (out of 135)	Big Ten Rank (out of 14)
Michigan State	1.601	+0.241	17	1
Penn State	1.521	+0.161	30	2
Purdue	1.442	+0.082	43	3
Nebraska	1.439	+0.079	45	4
Iowa	1.315	-0.045	75	5
Illinois	1.287	-0.073	82	6
Michigan	1.272	-0.088	88	7
Ohio State	1.240	-0.120	93	8
Wisconsin	1.236	-0.124	94	9
Maryland	1.199	-0.162	105	10
Rutgers	1.185	-0.175	108	11
Northwestern	1.159	-0.201	110	12
Minnesota	1.139	-0.22	116	13
Indiana	1.118	-0.242	121	14
Big Ten Average	1.297	-0.060	8 of 9*

* AAC, A 10, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, MW, Pac-12, and SEC

Curiously, the Hoosiers, Golden Gophers, and Scarlet Knights all see their scores jump if their 11 rivals are all projected to fall to the last-place game in their respective exempt events. Such a drop would be particularly hard on Wisconsin and Nebraska, since the bottom half of the Wooden Legacy and Maui fields aren't all that strong (and such a fall would result in the Badgers facing D2 Chaminade).

True Road And Non-D1 Games

True Road Games Scheduled	True Road Games Scheduled Against Non-Power 6 Teams	Non-Division I Games Scheduled
21 (4 Gavitt Games, 7 ACC/B1G)	4	4-5

When you remove the Big Ten's two conference challenges out of the picture, the 14 teams couldn't even manage to schedule a single road game apiece. More distressing, however, are the four games against non-Division I opponents that are locked in. While you can kind of excuse Rutgers on this front, thanks to their recent awfulness, Illinois, Maryland, and Nebraska really should be able to do better.

Before getting into my individual team analyses, I must advise you to be careful if you're prone to sugar shock.

Team Capsules

	Illinois Fighting Illini
Average Opponent Score	1.292 (avg.); 1.296 (max.); 1.287 (min.)
At-Large Pool Ranking	89th (avg.); 95th (max.); 82nd (min.)
Big Ten Ranking	7th (avg.); 7th (max.); 6th (min.)
Exempt Event*	NIT Season Tip-Off (two at home, two at Brooklyn)

True Home Games (8)	Semi-Home Games (1)	True Neutral-Site Games (4)	Semi-Away Games (0)	True Away Games (0)
North Carolina State (ACC/B1G) Central Michigan Detroit* Winthrop* Northern Kentucky IUPUI Southeast Missouri McKendree (non-D1)	BYU (Chicago)	West Virginia* Florida State/ Temple* VCU (Miami) Missouri (St. Louis)

After a year out of the postseason and three out of the NCAAs, the pressure is on John Groce to get his team back to the field of 68. This November and December, the Fighting Illini won't have to play a good chunk of their non-conference schedule in Springfield, as in 2015: the State Farm Center/Assembly Hall will be ready to go from tip-off. Considering Illinois lost to North Florida and Chattanooga—both eventual auto bid winners—in its temporary home, that's a positive.

The opponents visiting Champaign, on the other hand, are a negative, meaning the Illini will have to do a ton of work in their five neutral-site games. The NIT Season Tip-Off draw is unkind, as West Virginia is probably the strongest team in the field, while the Braggin' Rights Game in St. Louis pits a pair of coaches on the hot seat. Note that the Illini have won three in a row over Mizzou.

That means the second game in Brooklyn, against either FSU or Temple, and contests in Miami and Chicago might have outsized importance for Illinois heading into the always-challenging Big Ten slate.

	Indiana Hoosiers
Average Opponent Score	1.118
At-Large Pool Ranking	127th (avg.); 130th (max.); 121st (min.)
Big Ten Ranking	14th (avg.); 14th (max.); 14th (min.)
Exempt Event*	Indiana Classic (three at home, one away)

True Home Games (9)	Semi-Home Games (1)	True Neutral-Site Games (2)	Semi-Away Games (0)	True Away Games (1)
North Carolina (ACC/B1G) Austin Peay Southeast Missouri SIU Edwardsville Liberty* Houston Baptist Delaware State UMass Lowell* Mississippi Valley State*	Louisville (Indianapolis)	Kansas (Honolulu) Butler (Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis)		Fort Wayne*

The Hoosiers play four marquee games, with three of those away from home, along with an odd road game at Fort Wayne. That contest against the Mastodons counts as a home game for the Summit League favorites (note the grey shading on Indiana's schedule) despite being part of an IU-organized exempt tournament (that BTN is airing and Indiana apparently controls the tickets to).

So, with those five games on the slate, why does Indiana have the worst non-conference slate in the Big Ten and among the worst in the at-large pool? Well, remember that my ratings don't give teams much credit for home games against poorly-ranked Division I teams, and Tom Crean and his staff put eight of those on the schedule. So, if the Hoosiers find themselves in bubble trouble during league play, you'll know why. (Barring wins in those five higher-quality games.)

	Iowa Hawkeyes
Average Opponent Score	1.323 (avg.); 1.331 (max.); 1.315 (min.)
At-Large Pool Ranking	83rd (avg.); 86th (max.); 75th (min.)
Big Ten Ranking	6th (avg.); 6th (max.); 5th (min.)
Exempt Event*	Emerald Coast Classic (two at home, two at Niceville, Fla.)

True Home Games (9)	Semi-Home Games (0)	True Neutral-Site Games (3)	Semi-Away Games (0)	True Away Games (1)
Iowa State Seton Hall (Gavitt Games) Omaha North Dakota Stetson Savannah State* Kennesaw State Delaware State UTRGV*		Virginia* Providence/ Memphis* Northern Iowa (Des Moines)		Notre Dame (ACC/B1G)

In recent years, Iowa has gotten into the habit of building fans' hopes up by the time February rolls around, only to eventually stumble into NCAA play. Things might go in the opposite direction in 2016-17, simply because the Hawkeyes lost a lot of talent from the squad Villanova eliminated in the NCAA Tournament Second Round. With that in mind, Fran McCaffrey has a schedule that ... honestly doesn't look all that different from last season's. There are still seven home games against likely cream puffs and an exempt tournament in Florida (though with only two games in the Sunshine State in 2016, not 2015's three).

Those differences could make things trickier, even with Iowa State visiting Carver-Hawkeye Arena. For starters, the Hawkeyes hit the road for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge to face a Fighting Irish team they lost to in Orlando last November. Iowa also gets a tougher draw for the Gavitt Games, Seton Hall, even though that game's in Iowa City. Plus, instead of drawing one of the Missouri Valley's worst, Drake, in the HyVee Big Four Classic, the Hawks have to play one of that league's contenders, UNI.

Those half-dozen quality games will provide Iowa fans with a way to set expectations for January and beyond. Over at Black Heart Gold Pants, former staff writer RossWB offered his breakdown of the slate from its late June release.

	Maryland Terrapins
Average Opponent Score	1.232 (avg.); 1.1265 (max.); 1.199 (min.)
At-Large Pool Ranking	104th (avg.); 103rd (max.); 105th (min.)
Big Ten Ranking	10th (avg.); 9th (max.); 10th (min.)
Exempt Event*	Barclays Center Classic (two at home, two at Brooklyn)

True Home Games (9)	Semi-Home Games (1)	True Neutral-Site Games (2)	Semi-Away Games (0)	True Away Games (1)
Pittsburgh (ACC/B1G) Oklahoma State Stony Brook* Towson* Saint Peter's American Jacksonville State Howard St. Mary's College (Md.) (non-D1)	Charlotte (Baltimore)	Richmond* Kansas State/ Boston College*		Georgetown (Gavitt Games)

The Terps will leave the state of Maryland/District of Columbia for just two days during November and December, and that's just a bus/train ride to Brooklyn for a Barclays Center event they should romp through. Really, these 13 games only seem to offer two significant challenges—the short trip to Georgetown and Pitt's visit for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. And if the Hoyas aren't improved, that number drops to one. However, since this is Maryland we're talking about, visits from CAA contender Towson and MAAC hopeful Saint Peter's could be tricky if the Terps decide to not pay attention to them.

This, like so many Big Ten slates this season, isn't going to really help on the seeding front come March. Over at Testudo Times, Alex Kirchner concurs, as typed out his thoughts about a slate he labeled "soft."

	Michigan Wolverines
Average Opponent Score	1.276 (avg.); 1.279 (max.); 1.272 (min.)
At-Large Pool Ranking	98th (avg.); 98th (max.); 88th (min.)
Big Ten Ranking	8th (avg.); 8th (max.); 7th (min.)
Exempt Event*	2K Classic Benefitting Wounded Warrior Project (two at home, two at MSG)

True Home Games (9)	Semi-Home Games (0)	True Neutral-Site Games (2)	Semi-Away Games (0)	True Away Games (2)
Texas Virginia Tech (ACC/B1G) Mount St. Mary's Furman IUPUI* UMES Kennesaw State Howard* Central Arkansas		Marquette* SMU/Pittsburgh*		UCLA South Carolina

And speaking of typical-looking Big Ten slates, the Wolverines have ... seven cupcake home games and six high-major contests. Shocking. Michigan, however, scheduled two of those six games on the road, though trips to Columbia and Westwood might be of questionable value this year. Still, at least John Beilein and his staff made an effort.

The Wolverines' trip to Brooklyn will be fascinating, particularly if they end up meeting SMU on night two. The Mustangs swept a home-and-home series between the pair over the last two seasons. Home matchups with Texas and Virginia Tech (who really would need a win in Ann Arbor given its own scheduling deficiencies) will also have an impact on the March picture.

	Michigan State Spartans
Average Opponent Score	1.648 (avg.); 1.680 (max.); 1.601 (min.)
At-Large Pool Ranking	17th (avg.); 19th (max.); 17th (min.)
Big Ten Ranking	1st (avg.); 1st (max.); 1st (min.)
Exempt Event*	Battle 4 Atlantis (one at home, three at Paradise Island, Bahamas)

True Home Games (7)	Semi-Home Games (0)	True Neutral-Site Games (5)	Semi-Away Games (0)	True Away Games (1)
Oakland Northeastern FGCU* Oral Roberts Tennessee Tech Youngstown State Mississippi Valley State		St. John's* Baylor/VCU* Louisville/ Wichita State/ LSU/ Old Dominion* Kentucky (MSG) Arizona (Honolulu)		Duke (ACC/B1G)

This is a rather typical-looking Michigan State slate, with neutral-site games doing most of the heavy lifting in the profile department. The Spartans will be tested—and potentially jet-lagged—right out of the gate, thanks to a State Farm Armed Forces Classic matchup with Arizona on Opening Night in Honolulu and a State Farm Champions Classic showdown with Kentucky in New York 96 hours later. Tom Izzo's team will spend Thanksgiving week at the Battle 4 Atlantis, where they could meet Louisville in the final, before heading to Cameron Indoor to take on likely preseason No. 1 Duke. Ouch.

But after that it will be a heaping helping of home cooking, as the Spartans won't leave the Breslin Center until their Big Ten opener against the next team on my list.

Michigan State could be in for a very rough first month of the season, but as usual, this schedule is built with preparing for March as its primary goal.

	Minnesota Golden Gophers
Average Opponent Score	1.139
At-Large Pool Ranking	119th (avg.); 126th (max.); 116th (min.)
Big Ten Ranking	13th (avg.); 13th (max.); 13th (min.)
Exempt Event*	Golden Gopher Showcase (four at home)

True Home Games (11)	Semi-Home Games (1)	True Neutral-Site Games (0)	Semi-Away Games (0)	True Away Games (1)
Arkansas* St. John's (Gavitt Games) UL Lafayette UT Arlington* Southern Illinois* Northern Illinois Georgia Southern Mount St. Mary's* NJIT Arkansas State LIU Brooklyn	Vanderbilt (Sioux Falls, S.D.)			Florida State (ACC/B1G)

The Daily Gopher's zipsofakron sent me his thoughts on the Golden Gophers' non-conference slate.

I'm looking at the non-conference schedule completely without numbers and with extreme prejudice. So just keep that in mind. Of course, in the offseason the U made a big deal of announcing a home-and-home with a real live P5 school, so naturally people were falling over themselves hoping it would be a Marquette or Kansas or Syracuse. It ended up being Arkansas, which didn't do much for anyone. Nevertheless, it added a potential RPI-boosting opponent to the schedule, which makes things a little more enticing for the home schedule, if you're comparing it to the usual cupcakes that roll through Williams Arena.

Long story short, we have the usual NEC suspects and a couple directional schools, but overall the quality of the non-conference schedule is flat. The Gophers are participating in the Gavitt Games, meaning they get a home game against St. John's, are headed to Tallahassee to face Florida State as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and will play Vanderbilt at a neutral site in Sioux Falls. So, that's a handful of BCS opponents, but nothing that's going to get anyone excited about anything over here. However, I do think it'll be a good barometer for a team trying to bounce back from a god-awful season. If they can beat the likes of Arkansas and Vanderbilt then we might actually have something to look forward to this year.

Considering that Minnesota has not gotten close to the NCAAs after its 2014 NIT crown, it's put-up-or-shut-up time for Richard Pitino. With the Gophers' young roster and a schedule that features some tricky matchups, trouble could be ahead for them. In particular, Minnesota's second game, a home contest against a UT Arlington squad that won at Ohio State last November, will be one to keep an eye on in the season's first week.

	Nebraska Cornhuskers
Average Opponent Score	1.548 (avg.); 1.647 (max.); 1.439 (min.)
At-Large Pool Ranking	35th (avg.); 27th (max.); 45th (min.)
Big Ten Ranking	2nd (avg.); 2nd (max.); 4th (min.)
Exempt Event*	Directv Wooden Legacy (two at Fullerton, Calif., one at Anaheim, Calif.)

True Home Games (7)	Semi-Home Games (0)	True Neutral-Site Games (1-3)	Semi-Away Games (0-2)	True Away Games (2)
Creighton Louisiana Tech Gardner-Webb Southern South Dakota Sacramento State University of Mary (non-D1)		Dayton* Portland/UCLA* Texas A&M/ New Mexico/ Virginia Tech/ Cal State Northridge*	Portland/UCLA* Texas A&M/ New Mexico/ Virginia Tech/ Cal State Northridge*	Kansas Clemson (ACC/B1G)

Since rallying for an NCAA bid over the final six weeks of the 2013-14 season, Tim Miles' squad has struggled to a 29-36 record. Even with seven home contests on this season's slate, the Cornhuskers might continue to have difficulty on the court, as the five games away from Lincoln are all potentially brutal. Not only are road trips to Lawrence and Clemson likely losses, but drawing A 10 power Dayton in the first round of the Wooden Legacy looks like a sure ticket to the consolation round in a tournament featuring a weak bottom half.

If Nebraska can surprise at all during November and December, the Big Ten season could be intriguing. I wouldn't bet on it, though.

	Northwestern Wildcats
Average Opponent Score	1.168 (avg.); 1.177 (max.); 1.159 (min.)
At-Large Pool Ranking	114th (avg.); 118th (max.); 110th (min.)
Big Ten Ranking	12th (avg.); 12th (max.); 12th (min.)
Exempt Event*	Legends Classic (two at home, two at Brooklyn)

True Home Games (9)	Semi-Home Games (1)	True Neutral-Site Games (2)	Semi-Away Games (0)	True Away Games (1)
Wake Forest (ACC/B1G) DePaul Eastern Washington* Bryant* IUPUI Houston Baptist New Orleans Chicago State Mississippi Valley State	Dayton (Chicago)	Texas* Notre Dame/ Colorado*		Butler (Gavitt Games)

Based on this schedule, the Wildcats are unlikely to earn their first-ever NCAA bid. While there are four high-major games with potential, and a sweep of them would change the prognosis for Chris Collins' squad, the home schedule is pretty much awful. While the overall slate is an improvement from last year's (a statement Inside NU's Zach Pereles would agree with), welcoming a bad Wake team, a typically awful DePaul squad, and several of D1's lesser lights leaves NU with a lot to do away from Welsh-Ryan Arena both in the early weeks of the season and over the entire Big Ten slate.

	Ohio State Buckeyes
Average Opponent Score	1.240
At-Large Pool Ranking	100th (avg.); 106th (max.); 93rd (min.)
Big Ten Ranking	9th (avg.); 10th (max.); 8th (min.)
Exempt Event*	Global Sports Invitational (four at home)

True Home Games (10)	Semi-Home Games (0)	True Neutral-Site Games (1)	Semi-Away Games (0)	True Away Games (2)
Connecticut Providence (Gavitt Games) N.C. Central* UNC Asheville Marshall* Western Carolina* Youngstown State FAU Jackson State* Fairleigh Dickinson		UCLA (Las Vegas)		Virginia (ACC/B1G) Navy

Last season, the Buckeyes went 11-7 during Big Ten play and still didn't get all that close to an NCAA bid. That's due to a non-conference schedule that featured a good number of cupcakes and a four-game losing streak in the early stages of the season. Similar difficulties could present themselves this season, as other than games against UConn and Virginia, and maybe Providence and UCLA, there's not a lot of quality here. If Thad Matta's team has similar early season struggles this time around, another NIT trip, at best, is on the cards.

	Penn State Nittany Lions
Average Opponent Score	1.540 (avg.); 1.558 (max.); 1.521 (min.)
At-Large Pool Ranking	37th (avg.); 45th (max.); 30th (min.)
Big Ten Ranking	3rd (avg.); 3rd (max.); 2nd (min.)
Exempt Event*	Hall of Fame Tip-Off (two at home, two at Uncasville, Conn.)

True Home Games (8)	Semi-Home Games (0)	True Neutral-Site Games (3)	Semi-Away Games (0)	True Away Games (2)
Georgia Tech (ACC/B1G) Albany* Wright State Duquesne George Mason Grand Canyon* Colgate Morgan State		Duke* Cincinnati/ Rhode Island* Pittsburgh (Newark, N.J.)		George Washington St. John's

In writing about Penn State's non-conference schedule release, Black Shoe Diaries' Tim Aydin's teaser read "Trust us, you'll love it." BSD hoops writer Aaron Yorke sent me similar thoughts for this post.

Head coach Pat Chambers has always been more about building his team's confidence than attracting a national television audience when it comes to building the Penn State non-conference schedule. Usually the Lions' toughest competition comes in the form of a holiday tournament. The same can be said this year with a matchup against Duke in the Hall of Fame Tip-off Tournament in Connecticut. However, there's also a neutral-site game against Pitt and road trips to St. John's and George Washington to look forward to. Overall, the non-conference schedule should prove to be more challenging that usual for this young Penn State team.

Chambers has been bringing quality recruiting classes over the last two cycles, and this schedule, among the Big Ten's better ones, will give them plenty of opportunities to get themselves some national attention right off the bat. Drawing perennial America East contender Albany (thanks to their enforced inability to travel to Duke due to HB2) and a rising Grand Canyon squad for the Hall of Fame Tip-Off's two home games gives the Nittany Lions a pair of decent tests before two high-quality games at the Mohegan Sun. This schedule sets up very well for Penn State, but Chambers' improved roster will have to do its part to return to the NCAAs for the first time since 2011.

	Purdue Boilermakers
Average Opponent Score	1.463 (avg.); 1.483 (max.); 1.442 (min.)
At-Large Pool Ranking	52nd (avg.); 60th (max.); 43rd (min.)
Big Ten Ranking	4th (avg.); 4th (max.); 3rd (min.)
Exempt Event*	Cancun Challenge (two at home, two at Cancun, Mexico)

True Home Games (8)	Semi-Home Games (0)	True Neutral-Site Games (4)	Semi-Away Games (0)	True Away Games (1)
Villanova (Gavitt Games) Georgia State* Morehead State Cleveland State Norfolk State NJIT* Western Illinois McNeese State		Utah State* Texas Tech/ Auburn* Notre Dame (Indianapolis) Arizona State (MSG)		Louisville (ACC/B1G)

Friend of the blog Travis Miller from Hammer And Rails was kind enough to pass along his thoughts on this year's Purdue non-conference slate.

Purdue has a really challenging non-conference schedule this year and it should pay off for an experienced and talented club. The first huge game of the entire college basketball season is November 14th when it hosts Villanova. Purdue is playing in Cancun too, where in the final it will play either Texas Tech (with Chris Beard, who ousted Purdue from the NCAAs with Little Rock) or Auburn and former Purdue transfer Ronnie Johnson who left WL on poor terms. Purdue goes to Louisville in the ACC/Big Ten challenge and will play Arizona State at MSG in the Jimmy V. Classic. Purdue also gets Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic this year. There are some intriguing smaller conference games against Cleveland State, Georgia State, and NJIT too.

Here's Travis's quick review of the schedule. You can undoubtedly expect more on it in the coming weeks.

In my opinion, Purdue's non-conference slate held them back a bit last season when it came to seeding (directly leading to one of the more intriguing matchup possibilities on this year's slate, the potential game with Chris Beard's new Texas Tech charges). Getting Villanova at home and Louisville on the road are two major boosts (that probably wouldn't be possible without the conference challenge, but I digress) and the visit from Georgia State is a sneaky good one (and a potential early trap). This slate should definitely help the Boilermakers out in March, provided they take care of business in Big Ten play.

If anything, this schedule will help take the edge off after football season.

	Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Average Opponent Score	1.185
At-Large Pool Ranking	109th (avg.); 116th (max.); 108th (min.)
Big Ten Ranking	11th (avg.); 11th (max.); 11th (min.)
Exempt Event*	Scarlet Knight Showcase (four at home)

True Home Games (8)	Semi-Home Games (0)	True Neutral-Site Games (1)	Semi-Away Games (0)	True Away Games (4)
Drexel* North Texas* Niagara* Hartford* Morgan State Fairleigh Dickinson Central Connecticut State Molloy (non-D1)		Fordham (MSG)		Miami (ACC/B1G) Seton Hall Stony Brook DePaul (Gavitt Games)

Steve Pikiell, formerly of Stony Brook, takes over a Scarlet Knight squad that got incrementally worse in each of Eddie Jordan's three seasons (going from 12 to 10 and finally bottoming out with seven wins, while Pikiell's last Seawolves squad won 25 alone). So, you can understand why this schedule is not really built with March in mind. To me, the two most intriguing contests are the potentially unfair fight against Miami in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge (really, conference offices?) and Rutgers' trip to Pikiell's previous employer.

Aaron Breitman has a more comprehensive look at the Scarlet Knight's November and December plans at On The Banks.

	Wisconsin Badgers
Average Opponent Score	1.388 (avg.); 1.458 (max.); 1.236 (min.)
At-Large Pool Ranking	73rd (avg.); 64th (max.); 94th (min.)
Big Ten Ranking	5th (avg.); 5th (max.); 9th (min.)
Exempt Event*	Maui Jim Maui Invitational (one at home, three at Lahaina, Hawai'i)

True Home Games (8)	Semi-Home Games (0)	True Neutral-Site Games (2-3)	Semi-Away Games (0-1)	True Away Games (2)
Oklahoma Syracuse (ACC/B1G) Green Bay Idaho State Prairie View A&M Chicago State Central Arkansas* Florida A&M		Tennessee* Oregon/ Georgetown* North Carolina/ Connecticut/ Oklahoma State/ Chaminade*	North Carolina/ Connecticut/ Oklahoma State/ Chaminade*	Creighton (Gavitt Games) Marquette

The bottom five games drag down the numbers for a rather solid Badger schedule, one highlighted by a trip to the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. If Greg Gard's squad gets by Tennessee in the first round, games against likely NCAA squads would follow on Tuesday and Wednesday in Lahaina. Note that the two Big East away games might have more importance to those squads (because of the relative lack of heft on their respective schedules). Getting a rebuilding, but decent Oklahoma squad and a dangerous, underrated Syracuse squad at the Kohl Center are major pluses.

Tomorrow, I'll take a look at the Mountain West, even if that conference only earned a single bid in 2016.

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