The Big Ten released its 18-game 2022-23 women’s basketball conference schedule Wednesday, and Nebraska will start conference play with plenty of challenges.
Three of Nebraska’s first four games are against NCAA Tournament teams from last season, two of those matchups being on the road. That begins with a Dec. 4 conference opener at Maryland, a top-15 team which made the Sweet 16 in 2021-22.
The B1G stage.
Conference slate lined up.
📝: https://t.co/AGCJhQwuRH
🎟: https://t.co/ZuqmMyNf3C pic.twitter.com/KVer9dE49b— Nebraska WBB (@HuskersWBB) September 7, 2022
Three days later, the Huskers will play their first home game of conference play against Wisconsin on Dec. 7. Nebraska beat the Badgers both times they faced off last season.
After that, it’ll be three weeks until Nebraska’s next conference game, although there will be three non-conference matchups in the meantime. The return to Big Ten play will come on Dec. 28 at home against Michigan, followed by a road matchup with Indiana on New Year’s. The Michigan game will also finish a five-game home stand for Nebraska.
Both the Wolverines and Hoosiers were tournament teams last year, with the former making the Elite Eight. Nebraska recorded wins against each team as well last season, including a victory over Michigan in the conference tournament.
Nebraska’s two matchups with Iowa fall on the back half of the conference schedule. The Huskers first face the Hawkeyes on the road on Jan. 28, then at home three weeks later on Feb. 18. They lost to Iowa three times last year, twice in the regular season and once more in the conference semifinals.
As it stands, the final stretch of the season appears relatively lighter. The Huskers will play eight games against the conference’s five other NCAA Tournament teams from last year, and six of those matchups come within the first 10 conference games. Along with that, Nebraska will not have any back-to-back home games after mid-January, while they will have two straight road games in February.
The Huskers finish out their season with a home game against Northwestern, just as they did last season. The full Nebraska schedule can be found on Huskers.com.
