The Huskers officially announced their 18-game Big Ten conference on July 31, but on Wednesday, the conference announced the official dates for those games.
Conference play this season will begin on Dec. 1. Each school will get one home game and one road game in the books before Dec. 5, when schools will pivot back to their non-conference schedules.
The Huskers will begin a grueling two-week stretch by opening conference play on the road against Michigan State on Dec. 3. On Dec. 5, the Huskers will host Minnesota at Pinnacle Bank Arena for their conference home opener. When non-conference play picks back up, Nebraska will face cross-town foe Creighton (Dec. 9) on the road and Big 12 power Kansas (Dec. 16) at home.
For Nebraska, Big Ten play resumes with back-to-back games on the road against last season’s NCAA Tournament darling Northwestern (Jan. 2) and the Big Ten champion Purdue Boilermakers (Jan. 5). The Huskers then travel home to host Wisconsin on Jan. 9.
The rest of the January schedule features home games against Illinois (Jan. 15) and Michigan (Jan. 18), two road games against Ohio State (Jan. 22) and Rutgers (Jan. 24) and concluding with a home matchup with Iowa (Jan. 27) and a rematch with Wisconsin in Madison
After a road contest with Minnesota on Feb. 6, Nebraska closes out the regular season with four of five at home. The Huskers will face Rutgers (Feb. 10), Maryland (Feb. 13), Indiana (Feb. 20) and Penn State (Feb. 25) with a road game against Indiana on Feb. 17 sandwiched in between. The final two home games marks the first time in 21 years – and only the third time since 1970 – that Nebraska has ended the regular season with consecutive conference home games.
The 2018 Big Ten Tournament will begin on Feb. 28. Nebraska begins its season at home against Eastern Illinois on Nov. 11.
