Maryland basketball’s full 2019-20 schedule released

The Big Ten released its 2019-20 schedule Friday, finally revealing the season slate for Maryland basketball. The non-conference dates and opponents came out at the end of July.

The Terps unveiled which opponents they would face in conference play back in April, but this is the first time the specific dates have been made available publicly.

Maryland kicks off Big Ten play against Illinois at home on Dec. 7. Despite finishing with a 12-21 record, the Fighting Illini upset the Terps 78-67 at Big Ten Super Saturday at Madison Square Garden last season. Now Maryland will be looking to prove that game was a fluke and start conference play off on the right foot in a season marked with high expectations.

The second game of the conference play for Maryland will also be a matchup against a team it shouldn't have fallen to last season — Penn State. The Terps will make the trip to State College, PA, eager to forget about leaving there with in an embarrassing 78-61 loss in February 2019.

The Terps then don't resume Big Ten play until Jan. 4, when the season will really start to kick up. They face Indiana at home that day, followed by another Xfinity Center matchup against Ohio State on Jan. 7.

Then things get hard. Maryland plays four of the next five games on the road, traveling to Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern and Indiana, with a home game against Purdue in between. This is where fans will get a glimpse of whether this team will live up to the preseason hype.

After matchups against Iowa, Rutgers, Illinois and Nebraska — three of which are at home — comes the marquee game of the season. The Terps face Michigan State at Breslin Center on Feb. 15 in what is likely to be a battle between the two top teams in the conference. The teams will face again at home territory for Maryland on Feb. 29.

Following the trip to Michigan State, Maryland has games against Northwestern, Ohio State and Minnesota. And to close things off in March after another Spartan showdown, the Terps get a breather with a home Rutgers game before ending the regular season against Michigan at home on March 8.

The full schedule can be viewed here.