Ya know, I have seen it posted that we have a relatively weak non-conference schedule - only a potential top 25 matchup with #16 Arkansas, with Arizona showing real promise to sneak into the top 25 before we play them - but I was looking around at other Big Ten teams' schedules, and at least ours is interesting from a fan perspective! These are what I would consider the three "coolest" games I would look forward to the most if I were a fan of each B1G team:
ILL: vs. #16 Arkansas (Kansas City, MO, potential), vs. Arizona, vs. Missouri (St. Louis, MO)
IND: at Syracuse (B1G/ACC), vs. Notre Dame (Indianapolis, IN) ... vs. St. John's??
IOWA: at #25 Virginia (B1G/ACC), at Iowa State ... vs. Utah State (Sioux Falls, SD)??
UMD: vs. Louisville (Nassau, BAH, potential), vs. Florida (New York, NY), vs. Virginia Tech (B1G/ACC)
MICH: at #19 North Carolina (B1G/ACC), vs. UNLV (Las Vegas, NV), vs. Arizona (Las Vegas, NV, potential)
MSU: vs. #3 Kansas (New York, NY), vs. #22 Auburn (Nassau, BAH, potential), vs. Louisville (B1G/ACC)
MINN: at Pitt (B1G/ACC), at Mississippi State ... vs. Western Kentucky (Asheville, NC)??
NEB: vs. #22 Auburn (Atlanta, GA), at NC State (B1G/ACC) ... vs. Creighton??
NU: vs. #25 Virginia (Newark, NJ, potential), vs. Providence (Newark, NJ), at Wake Forest (B1G/ACC)
OSU: vs. #9 Duke (B1G/ACC), vs. #10 Kentucky (Las Vegas, NV), vs. Florida (Fort Myers, FL, potential)
PSU: vs. LSU (Niceville, FL), vs. Miami (FL) (B1G/ACC), vs. Wake Forest (Niceville, FL, potential)
PUR: vs. #4 Villanova (Uncasville, CT, potential), vs. #19 North Carolina (Uncasville, CT), vs. #20 Florida State (B1G/ACC)
RUT: at Seton Hall, vs. Clemson (B1G/ACC) ... at DePaul??
WISC: vs. #15 Houston (Las Vegas, NV, potential), vs. Texas A&M (Las Vegas, NV), vs. Marquette
I think exciting non-conference schedules are honestly getting harder to schedule, and when you consider some of the "names" we have on our schedule who are kind of down right now (Notre Dame, Marquette, Arizona, Missouri, Cincinnati, etc.), ours really isn't that bad.