The Michigan Wolverines men’s hoops team will open their 2017-18 season on Saturday, November 11 at home against North Florida. The game will be a ‘mainland’ game to kickstart the Maui Invitational before the Wolverines head for islands later that month.
In that 11/11 game, the team will hold pregame ceremonies honoring last year’s Big Ten Tournament champions. It’s all part of the team’s schedule that was finalized on Monday.
SCHEDULE NEWS! 〽️🏀 releases 2017-18 non-conference slate
Info » https://t.co/LwmCujN46E
Tix » https://t.co/vKJgQCs7zq#GoBlue #Commit&Win pic.twitter.com/plsnQ1rhM5— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) July 17, 2017
Michigan will play one exhibition on November 3 against Grand Valley State, the first of four straight games at home. After North Florida on November 11, they will then host Central Michigan (11/13) and Southern Mississippi (11/16) before making the near 4,400 mile trek to Maui.
The tournament just recently released the bracket for the Maui Invitational as well, which has Michigan squaring off with LSU in the opening round.
Get an expert’s take on this year’s tournament as ESPN’s @JayBilas breaks down the 2017 @officialmauijim @Mauiinv. https://t.co/PwChC0xfP8 pic.twitter.com/h2esuWnHez
— Maui Invitational (@MauiInv) July 18, 2017
Post-Maui, the Wolverines have a number of high-profile non-conference games. Among them are a date with defending national champion North Carolina, in Chapel Hill, in the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
They also continue home-and-home series with UCLA and Texas, respectively. Michigan lost 102-84 at UCLA last season and downed Texas 53-50 at home. This year, they will host the Bruins (12/09) before traveling to Austin to play the Longhorns (12/12).
Also on the schedule is a game at the newly-minted Little Caesars Arena against Detroit Mercy and former Michigan assistant coach Bacari Alexander on December 16. Alexander will be entering his second season as the Titans’ head coach. The game is part of a doubleheader that will also feature a match-up pitting Michigan State against Oakland.
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After home games against Alabama A&M (12/21) and Jacksonville State (12/30), Michigan will begin league play shortly thereafter. Dates and times and have yet to be finalized for their conference slate, but they know which teams they will be playing once or twice.
Photo Credit: MGoBlog/FlickrAs is the case every year, there’s five teams that every Big Ten school plays twice in the season; four they play once on the road and four they play once at home. And you may notice a few notable omissions from Michigan’s home conference schedule:
- HOME-AND-HOME : Iowa, Maryland, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue
- HOME ONLY : Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Rutgers
- ROAD ONLY : Michigan State, Nebraska, Penn State, Wisconsin
It’s a bit unfortunate and unusual at times, but not totally unheard of to see Michigan and Michigan State only meet once in the regular season. It was just two seasons ago when the two in-state rivals only had one regular season bout, an 89-73 victory for the Spartans in Ann Arbor.
They will also not welcome in Wisconsin to the Crisler Center. The Badgers have of course been one of the better teams in the league for nearly two decades. Michigan toppled Bucky this past season at home in their lone regular season meeting before beating them again in the Big Ten Tournament en route to the championship.
For a complete look at the non-conference schedule, click here.
