While the rough outlines have been known for a while, IU finally has released the Hoosiers' full 2010-11 schedule. The full schedule is below the fold, but a few initial thoughts:
- This is a schedule built for wins. The non-conference (with 2010 Pomeroy ratings noted) does include true road games against Kentucky (3) and Boston College (62), neutral site games against Northern Iowa (29) and either Colorado (86) or New Mexico (54) in Las Vegas, and a home game against Wright State (65). All other non-conference games except those listed above are at home, and the highest rated team among the best of the rest is Evansville (213), and the remaining seven teams are ranked 290 or worse among ~345 Division I teams.
- Given the above, eight non-conference wins is an absolute bare minimum, even if we have another horrible injury. The games against Wright State and either New Mexico and Colorado in Vegas strike me as the keys to the non-conference schedule. While I certainly, certainly am not predicting a 12-1 non-conference finish, the game against Kentucky in Lexington is the only single game in which a win would shock me.
- This was known already, based on last season's schedule, but IU's no-plays are at home against Michigan State (the only game is in East Lansing) and at Penn State (IU will not make the trip to the site of its only Big Ten road win of the last two seasons and we moved our Penn State home game to the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. Not really.).
- Nothing about the Big Ten schedule jumps out at me. There aren't any long road trips or homestands, and the quality mix seems pretty even. The only exception to that is in the last four games, where IU plays Purdue, at Ohio State, Wisconsin, and at Illinois.
As I said, you can read the whole thing below the fold. I welcome your thoughts.
November 12 Friday Florida Gulf Coast Bloomington, Ind. 6:30 p.m. BTN
November 14 Sunday Wright State Bloomington, Ind. TBA ESPNU
November 16 Tuesday Mississippi Valley State Bloomington, Ind. 7 p.m. BTN
November 21 Sunday Evansville Bloomington, Ind. 1 p.m. BTN
November 23 Tuesday North Carolina Central Bloomington, Ind. 7 p.m. BTN
November 26 Friday Northwestern State Bloomington, Ind. TBA BTN.com
BIG TEN/ACC CHALLENGE
December 1 Wednesday at Boston College Chestnut Hill, Mass. 7:15 p.m. ESPNU
December 4 Saturday Savannah State Bloomington, Ind. TBA ESPNU
December 11 Saturday at Kentucky Lexington, Ky. 5:15 p.m. ESPN
IBN LAS VEGAS CLASSIC
December 17 Friday SIU-Edwardsville Bloomington, Ind. 7 p.m. BTN
December 19 Sunday South Carolina State Bloomington, Ind. 4 p.m. BTN
December 22 Wednesday Northern Iowa Las Vegas, Nev. 7:30 p.m. IBN
December 23 Thursday New Mexico/Colorado Las Vegas, Nev. 7:30 or 10 pm IBN
BIG TEN SEASON
December 27 Monday Penn State* Bloomington, Ind. 6:30 p.m. BTN
December 31 Friday Ohio State* Bloomington, Ind. 6 p.m. ESPN2
January 4 Tuesday at Minnesota* Minneapolis, Minn. 7 p.m. ESPN2
January 9 Sunday at Northwestern* Evanston, Ill. 7 p.m. BTN
January 15 Saturday Michigan* Bloomington, Ind. 8 p.m. BTN
January 20 Thursday at Wisconsin* Madison, Wisc. 9 p.m. ESPN2
January 23 Sunday at Iowa* Iowa City, Iowa 3 p.m. BTN
January 27 Thursday Illinois* Bloomington, Ind. 9 p.m. BTN
January 30 Sunday at Michigan State* East Lansing, Mich. 6 p.m. BTN
February 2 Wednesday Minnesota* Bloomington, Ind. 6:30 p.m. BTN
February 5 Saturday Iowa* Bloomington, Ind. 4 p.m. ESPN/ESPN2
February 8 Tuesday at Purdue* West Lafayette, Ind. 7 p.m. ESPN
February 12 Saturday at Michigan* Ann Arbor, Mich. 2 p.m. BTN
February 19/20 Sat./Sun. Northwestern* Bloomington, Ind. TBA TBA
February 23 Wednesday Purdue* Bloomington, Ind. 8:30 p.m. BTN
February 26/27 Sat./Sun. at Ohio State* Columbus, Ohio TBA TBA
March 2/3 Wed./Thu. Wisconsin* Bloomington, Ind. TBA TBA
March 5/6 Sat./Sun. at Illinois* Champaign, Ill. TBA TBA
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT (Conseco Fieldhouse)
March 10-13 Th/Fr/Sat/Sun Big Ten Tournament Indianapolis, Ind. TBA TBA