The IU men’s and women’s basketball teams officially learned the who's, where's and when's of their 2018-19 schedules Tuesday.
On the men’s side, the Hoosiers will open their season Nov. 1 with an exhibition match against Southern Indiana in Bloomington. However, the regular season will begin with a matchup against Chicago State on Nov. 6 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
IU's non-conference schedule also features four games as a part of the new Hardwood Showcase, which includes home games against Montana State on Nov. 9, UT-Arlington on Nov. 20 and UC Davis on Nov. 23 and a road game at Arkansas on Nov. 18.
In between those games, Marquette will visit Bloomington as a part of the Gavitt Games on Nov. 14.
A road game in Durham, North Carolina against Duke for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Nov. 27; a home game against Louisville on Dec. 8; a matchup with Butler in Indianapolis at the Crossroads Classic on Dec. 15; and two straight home games against Central Arkansas and Jacksonville round out the non-conference schedule.
The Hoosiers open the Big Ten season at home against Northwestern on Dec. 1 and will wrap it up against Rutgers on March 10.
In between, IU will see Penn State, Maryland, Rutgers, Northwestern and Minnesota on the road. At home, it will be Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsin. The teams IU will play both in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall and in opposing territory will be Purdue, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Michigan State.
Last season, IU went 9-9 against Big Ten foes and lost in its first game of the Big Ten Tournament to Rutgers, 79-69, to end its season.
This is the first time in school history the men will play 20 conference games in one season.
As for the women's team, their season-opening exhibition game will take place on Nov. 2 against Northwood in Bloomington.
The beginning of IU's non-conference schedule opens on Nov. 7 against Milwaukee at Assembly Hall and wraps up with the Puerto Rico Classic from Dec. 19-21 where the Hoosiers will play Loyola Marymount, Grambling State and South Dakota.
The rest of the non-conference consists of home games against North Florida, Florida, Northern Illinois, Butler and Missouri State and road trips to Oakland, Wake Forest and UCLA.
Then, they begin Big Ten play on the road against Illinois Dec. 28 and close it out at home against Purdue on March 3.
The rest of the games see the Hoosiers traveling to Nebraska, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Purdue. The home games will be Minnesota, Maryland, Penn State and Iowa. The duplicate opponents will be Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern and Rutgers.
Last year, IU went 9-7 in the Big Ten and got knocked out in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament to Maryland. That didn’t mark the end of the team’s season, however, as they went on to qualify for the WNIT and win the championship.
Like the men, the women are adding an additional two conference games as well, having a total of 18 rather than 16.
Both programs are returning a majority of its roster and welcoming talented freshman classes that have potential to make a difference this season.
The season will kick off with Hoosier Hysteria on Sept. 29 in Bloomington.
