Michigan and Michigan State basketball to meet twice in 18 days in 2023-24 season

The Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans men's basketball teams will meet twice in 18 days during the 2023-24 season.

Tom Izzo's Spartans will host Juwan Howard's Wolverines on Jan. 30 in East Lansing, then make the return trip to Ann Arbor on Feb. 17. Michigan and Michigan State each won their home rivalry game last season, which has been the case all four years since Howard took over in 2019.

The Big Ten released its complete conference schedule Tuesday afternoon in the final season of the league's current structure — the league expands to 18 teams next year with the addition of Oregon, Washington, UCLA and USC — and both in-state schools have a number of marquee games.

Michigan's 2023-24 Big Ten schedule

U-M's Big Ten slate kicks off Dec. 5 at home against Indiana, followed by a trip to Iowa on Dec. 10 for the second straight season, as the two league games before the calendar turns.

Perhaps the highlight on the conference portion off Michigan's schedule is its matchup with Penn State on Jan. 7 at the Palestra — often called "the cathedral of college basketball" — in Philadelphia. U-M travels to Purdue on Jan. 23, visits Illinois on Feb. 13 and Ohio State on March 3.

U-M also has road games against Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern and Rutgers.

There are two stretches on the schedule that stand out above the rest for best home games.

U-M hosts Ohio State on Jan. 15, three days before Illinois comes to town on Jan. 18.

Purdue comes to Ann Arbor on Feb. 25, eight days after the home game against MSU.

The Wolverines come off their most disappointing season in more than a decade, after they went 18-16 overall (11-9 Big Ten) and missed the NCAA tournament for the second time in 15 years. U-M went to the NIT, but lost to Vanderbilt, 66-65, in the second round to end the season.

Michigan lost its three leading scorers from a season ago in Hunter Dickinson (Kansas), Kobe Bufkin (Atlanta Hawks) and Jett Howard (Orlando Magic), but return starters Dug McDaniel, Tarris Reed Jr. and Jaelin Llewellyn and added three key players through the transfer portal in Nimari Burnett (Alabama), Olivier Nkamhoua (Tennessee) and Tray Jackson (Seton Hall).

Michigan State's 2023-24 Big Ten schedule

MSU is expected to start the season somewhere in the top five as Izzo brings back a roster with among the most proven talent in America — Tyson Walker, AJ Hoggard, Jaden Akins and Malik Hall among others — and bring in one of the most talented freshmen classes in America, highlighted by three top 35 players per 247Sports Composite rankings in Xavier Booker (No. 14), Jeremy Fears Jr (No. 31), Coen Carr (No. 33).

The Spartans open Big Ten play at home against Wisconsin on Dec. 5, before their first and only true road game in 2023, at Nebraska on Dec. 10.

The Spartans go on the road for four of their next six league games (Northwestern, Illinois, Maryland and Wisconsin) through the final week of January.

MSU's toughest league stretch might come in the final month, when it travels to to the state of Indiana twice; first in their home of horrors, Purdue's Mackey Arena (March 2), then at Indiana on senior day in Bloomington (March 10).

MSU has three separate instances when it has two conference games at home within a five-day span: Rutgers (Jan. 14) and Minnesota (Jan. 18), Michigan (Jan. 30) and Maryland (Feb. 3) and Iowa (Feb. 20) and Ohio State (Feb. 25).

Michigan basketball 2023-24 schedule

Nov. 3: vs. Northwood (exhibition)

Nov. 7: vs. UNC Asheville (exhibition)

Nov. 10: vs. Youngstown State

Nov. 13: vs. St. Johns (Legends Classic, New York)

Nov. 17 vs. Long Beach State

Nov. 22 vs. Memphis, Battle 4 Atlantis (Paradise Island, Bahamas)

Nov. 23: vs. TBD, Battle 4 Atlantis (Paradise Island, Bahamas)

Nov. 24: vs. TBD, Battle 4 Atlantis (Paradise Island, Bahamas)

Dec. 2: at Oregon

Dec. 5: vs. Indiana

Dec. 10: at Iowa

Dec. 16: vs. Eastern Michigan

Dec. 19: vs. Florida (Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina)

Dec. 29: vs. McNeese State

Jan. 4: vs. Minnesota

Jan. 7: vs. Penn State (Philadelphia)

Jan. 11: at Maryland

Jan. 15: vs. Ohio State

Jan. 18: vs. Illinois

Jan. 23: at Purdue

Jan. 27: vs. Iowa

Jan. 30: at Michigan State

Feb. 3 vs. Rutgers

Feb. 7: vs. Wisconsin

Feb. 10: at Nebraska

Feb. 13: at Illinois

Feb. 17 vs. Michigan State

Feb. 22: at Northwestern

Feb. 25: vs. Purdue

Feb. 29: at Rutgers

March 3: at Ohio State

March 10: vs. Nebraska

Michigan State basketball 2023-24 schedule

Oct. 25: vs. Hillsdale (exhibition)

Oct. 29: vs. Tennessee (exhibition)

Nov. 6: vs. James Madison

Nov. 9: vs. Southern Indiana

Nov. 14: vs. Duke (Champions Classic, Chicago)

Nov. 17: vs. Butler (Gavitt Games)

Nov. 19: vs. Alcorn State (Acrisure Classic)

Nov. 23: vs. Arizona (Acrisure Classic, Palm Desert, California)

Nov. 28: vs. Georgia Southern

Dec. 5: vs. Wisconsin

Dec. 10: at Nebraska

Dec. 16: Baylor (Detroit)

Dec. 22: Oakland

Dec. 29/30: Indiana State

Jan. 4: vs. Penn State

Jan. 7: at Northwestern

Jan. 11: at Illinois

Jan. 14: vs. Rutgers

Jan. 18: vs. Minnesota

Jan. 21: at Maryland

Jan 26: at Wisconsin

Jan. 30: vs. Michigan

Feb. 3: vs. Maryland

Feb. 6: at Minnesota

Feb. 10: vs. Illinois

Feb. 14: at Penn State

Feb. 17 at Michigan State

Feb. 20: vs. Iowa

Feb. 25: vs. Ohio State

March 2: at Purdue

March 6: vs. Northwestern

March 10: at Indiana

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan and Michigan State basketball to meet twice in 3 weeks