With the Big Ten's release of the conference play details, Northwestern's 2023-24 schedule is now complete.
The Wildcats open their conference schedule with a rematch of maybe the greatest game in school history. On Dec. 1 at Welsh-Ryan Arena, in front of what will certainly be a capacity crowd, they will try to repeat last season’s upset of then-No. 1 Purdue.
Northwestern will face Big Ten foes Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State, Penn State, Maryland, Nebraska and Minnesota twice, once at home and once on the road, this season. They’ll have single games against Wisconsin, Ohio State, Rutgers, Indiana and Iowa.
Northwestern unveiled its non-conference slate already, so the full schedule is set. The Wildcats open the season on Nov. 6, when Binghamton comes to Evanston for another clash between Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser's alma maters.
Here's our breakdown of Northwestern's schedule as they try to become the first team in school history to make back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.
The Boilermakers are back: After a 2022-23 campaign that featured 29 wins, the second loss to a 16th-seed in the history of the NCAA Tournament and, most significantly in this case, a 64-58 defeat at Welsh-Ryan Arena, Purdue will play Northwestern twice.
The Boilermakers, led my returning national player of the year Zach Edey, will get chances at revenge against the Wildcats: on Dec. 1 in Evanston and Jan. 31 in West Lafayette.
Expect Welsh-Ryan to be electric all season, but it will be an absolute powder keg on Friday night when the defending Big Ten champs come to town.
Friendly February: It's hard to string together two or three easy games in a conference with the parity and talent the Big Ten has, but Northwestern's February start is as close as it gets.
Minnesota was abysmal last season, finishing 2-17 in conference play, with nine wins overall. The Wildcats open the month with a Feb. 3 game in the Twin Cities.
Then Nebraska, a .500 team that finished 9-11 in conference play, and Penn State, a strong team that lost its star player and coach from last season, both come to Welsh-Ryan, on Feb. 7 and 11, respectively.
Those three games in the heart of conference play provide the Wildcats a crucial opportunity to build momentum and stack wins together before a couple of tough road games at Rutgers and Indiana.
Illini out of the way early: Last season, Northwestern's in-state rivalry played out over nearly two months with games on Jan. 4 and Feb. 23. Now, the series will take place within the same month, on Jan. 2 and 24, separated by just five opponents.
The Wildcats snapped an eight-game losing streak against their arch-rival last season when they took down the Illini in Evanston. Illinois won the rematch in Champaign, and they don't plan on letting Illinois get another win streak up and running.
Time stretches in a basketball season. Days feel like weeks, weeks like months and months like years. The Wildcats and Illini were totally different teams when they met in late February last season. This season, with just 22 days separating matchups, it will feel more like a new round than a new fight.
Non-conference slate filled with opportunity: Northwestern's non-conference schedule was made public in piecemeal fashion during the offseason. But now that its set in stone, let's dig in.
The Wildcats play three Power Six opponents in their 11 games, all away from Welsh-Ryan: the winner of Mississippi State/Washington State in a tournament on Nov. 19, DePaul in Chicago on Dec. 16 and Arizona State in Phoenix on Dec. 20.
Plus, they take on Dayton, an always-tough program from the Atlantic 10, on Nov. 10. Even if the Flyers have been to the Big Dance since 2017, they've still banked 20 or more wins in four of the last five seasons with Anthony Grant as head coach. They'll be a good feather in Northwestern's cap if the Wildcats can get the win in their second game of the season.
There's also the opportunity to play the winner of Mississippi State and Washington State if Northwestern can beat Rhode Island in the first game of the Basketball Hall of Fame's Tip Off Tournament on Nov. 18 in Uncasville, Conn.
The Wildcats have a trip to Phoenix to play Arizona State at the Footprint Center, where the Suns play, as part of a home-and-home that will see the Sun Devils travel up to the United Center next season. ASU, like Northwestern, won a game in the NCAA Tournament last season.
March Madness start and finish are there: The schedule gives Northwestern the opportunity to replicate its run to the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats have a solid non-conference slate with chances to burnish their resume while providing a foundation for their season.
They should be favored in every game before New Year’s Day, except for Purdue. If they can execute at the level they showed last year, they can head into the new year at 11-1, with wins over Dayton and Arizona State to go with a tip-off tournament victory.
Conference play is always a bloodbath in the Big Ten, but the Wildcats have a solid off ramp into the conference tournament in March. Over their final 10 games they should be the heavy favorites four times, against cellar-dwellers Penn State, Nebraska and Minnesota at Welsh-Ryan, along with Minnesota again on the road.
If the Wildcats can play .500 ball in the remaining six dogfights: on the road for Rutgers, Indiana, Maryland and Michigan State, and Iowa and Michigan at home, that gives them a 7-3 finish to Big Ten play.
If Northwestern can take advantage of the bookends of its schedule, it sets the table for the first back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
