Mark Rudner, the Big Ten’s Senior Associate Commissioner, has compiled 31 Big Ten basketball schedules, and this latest one may have been the most difficult.

Between the regular season ending one week earlier, to allow for the Big Ten tournament to be played at Madison Square Garden, the addition of FOX as a TV partner and a host of facility conflicts, there was no shortage of things to navigate and consider.

From Jan. 2-Feb.25, in fact, there will be at least one Big Ten conference game on all but four days.

The four TV partners (BTN, CBS, ESPN & FOX) are more than any other conference, and trail only the NFL (5).

Here’s a handful of notable items regarding the 2017-18 conference schedule:

1. Big Ten play tips Friday, Dec. 1. Every team will play two conference games Dec. 1-5, before returning to non-conference play until conference action resumes Tuesday, Jan. 2.

2. Big Ten tournament is held a week earlier, and at Madison Square Garden. Instead of its usual second week of March date, the tournament will open Wednesday, Feb. 28 and crown a champion Sunday, March 4. The Big Ten couldn’t reserve the World’s Most Famous Arena for its usual dates (March 7-11), due to the Big East tournament.

3. Monday and Friday night games. FOX will carry games Monday and Friday nights, off nights in the past, meaning the Big Ten will play on every day of the week. A reasonable question: Were coaches, athletic directors and presidents against Friday night games?

4. Single-day preps. Due to the condensed conference slate and the juggling of men’s and women’s schedules, among other things, teams will play two games in three days, allowing just one day of preparation. There are 34 instances of single-day prep games.

5. Three straight road games. In previous seasons, the conference avoided having teams play more than two consecutive road games. This season, teams will play three in a row away from home.

Iowa will open Big 10 play on December 2nd hosting Penn State and then will be at Indiana on December 4th.  The Hawkeyes next Big 10 game won’t be until they host Michigan on January 2nd.

(Source:  Big 10 Conference)