Illinois’ 2019-20 conference opponents released

The Big Ten released the 2019-20 men’s basketball conference schedule breakdowns on Wednesday afternoon.

Illinois’ slate? Not too favorable.

Home: Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska

Away: Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin

Home/Away: Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue, Rutgers

Preferably, you’d like to play the teams twice that you know you can beat... twice.

Of the teams the Illini play once, you need to feel good about their chances against Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State. That’s four of those six.

Of the seven teams the Illini will play twice, it’s really only Northwestern and Rutgers you would feel good about.

It’s a fairly unforgiving slate, especially with having to go to every Big Ten arena except IU, Minnesota and Nebraska. That’s actually probably a solid break there, since those are three of the more difficult places to play in the conference. Not getting a shot against OSU or PSU at home is tough.

Again, this is the second year of the Big Ten’s 20-game conference schedule, where Illinois probably outdid expectations this year due to a terrific stretch in February.

How many wins do you see next year in conference?

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