Ohio State to face Michigan, Indiana just once in 2015-2016 Big Ten basketball schedule

While Ohio State fans won't know the full 2015-2016 basketball schedule for several more months, they'll get a little more clarity on who they'll face in Big Ten play, and which teams will be making trips to Columbus. Since the league is too big for every school to play a home and home with everybody, some teams will only face the Buckeyes once next season. Today, the Big Ten announced the single-play matchups across the league.

Next season, Ohio State will face Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa and Penn State a single time in Columbus. Ohio State will also only play Indiana, Wisconsin, Purdue and Nebraska once, each on the road. That means Ohio State will get two games with Illinois, Maryland, Rutgers, Northwestern and Michigan State.

We wrote yesterday about how the Big Ten failing to protect specific rivalry games means this Ohio State will go some years without getting as many games with their big rivals. From a competition standpoint, this isn't a bad draw for Ohio State, as Northwestern and Rutgers will likely still be near the bottom of the Big Ten standings. It doesn't give them as many chances to bad their RPI, but as far as making a run at a Big Ten title is concerned, it isn't a bad break, although not getting Indiana or Wisconsin at home at all might make their chances of grabbing a win more difficult.

This season, Ohio State faced Purdue, Michigan, Penn State, Iowa and Indiana twice.

Ohio State's non-conference schedule is likely to be more challenging as well, with neutral-site games scheduled against Kentucky and Memphis, along with a road trip to UConn, and a home game in the ACC/Big Ten challenge. We'll share additional schedule details as we obtain them.