As you are no doubt aware, Purdue is taking forever to announce the 2012-13 Men's Basketball schedule. Normally we have the full one out by now. Many schools have already published theirs. Purdue, for whatever reason, keeps holding on. We've been given a few dates and times, but nothing is set in stone.
In an effort to clear that up, here are the games we do know:
November 9-12 2K Sports Classic Regional Rounds - We're hosting two games in this event before automatically going to New York. These will likely be against low major teams as even non-D1 schools Hiram, University of the District of Columbia, and Indiana-Kokomo were in it last year.
November 15 vs. Villanova at Madison Square Garden - This is a semifinal game in the 2K Sports Classic. It will be televised on ESPN after the Alabama/Oregon State game.
November 16 vs. Oregon State or Alabama at Madison Square Garden - Our second game in New York, either the consolation or championship. The Consolation is at 5pm on ESPNU and the Championship is after on ESPN2.
November 22 vs. UNC-Wilmington - At the alumni game a few weeks ago they announced a BOGO sale for this game. That's the only mention of it I have heard.
November 28 at Clemson - This is our ACC/Big Ten Challenge game, and it will tip off at 7:15pm
December 1 vs. Xavier - Last year's epic collapse in Cincinnati was around the same time. This will be a chance at revenge and a shot at getting a very nice non-conference win since the Musketeers seem to always make the Sweet 16.
TBD at Eastern Michigan - I have seen on twitter from Mike Carmin and others that we will be going to Ypsilanti to face the Eagles, but I haven't nailed down a date yet. Last year we played them on December 10th.
December 14 vs. Notre Dame at Bankers Life Fieldhouse - Our game against The Traitor in Indy will be the first regular season game against the Fighting Irish since 1966.
December 29 vs. William & Mary - This is a confirmed game on William & Mary's schedule, and a former HS friend is their SID, so we can lock this one in now.
January 19 vs. West Virginia - Another resume builder out of conference, this one also at home in the middle of the conference schedule.
TBD vs. Ohio State - We visited the Buckeyes in Columbus last season for the only regular season meetings, so they only come to Mackey.
TBD vs. Minnesota - The Golden Gophers are the same as Ohio State. Bonus for no Demon Wood of Xibalba
TBD at Wisconsin - The Badgers came to Mackey for their only meeting last season.
TBD at Nebraska - The Cornhuskers are the same as Wisconsin. It will be our first trip to Lincoln since December 2, 1978
Unfortunately, this is it. None of the Big Ten teams have released a full schedule yet, as the conference is behind on that. It is unlikely that there will be another big non-conference game announced as we already play five major conference teams plus one of the best mid-majors in the country in Xavier. Expect a lot of home games against Directional State U. and City-State U.
As for the conference season we could do a lot worse in having one of our two road only opponents be a Nebraska team we handled easily twice last year. There will be plenty of chances to pick up NCAA resume wins in conference against Indiana (twice), Michigan (twice), Michigan State (twice), and others. In truth, the magic number of 20 victories should be enough to reach the NCAA Tournament. The schedule is going to be strong. In fact, the non-conference schedule is among the strongest we have faced in some time. As long as we avoid dropping an unexpected game against Directional State U. or City-State U we should get a very nice boost if we go at least 3-3 against our bigger non-conference games. In Joe Lunardi's most recent Bracketology he has Xavier and Notre Dame as NCAA teams, but Villanova, Oregon State, Alabama, West Virginia, and Clemson (TRUE ROAD WIN ALERT!) can definitely threaten for bids.
This is a good schedule, and hopefully we can pick up an Iona or St. Joseph's type that gave us a boost last season.