Ohio State men's basketball announces 26-game 2020-21 schedule

Ohio State will play a 26-game men’s basketball schedule this season that features 20 Big Ten games, one game at the Covelli Center and a conference opener at Purdue on December 16.

One week before the official start of the season, The Big Ten unveiled its complete schedule Wednesday evening that includes five games on Christmas Day and culminates with a conference tournament to be held March 10-14 at the United Center in Chicago.

More:Chris Holtmann tells podcast Ohio State men's basketball will play UMass Lowell

The Big Ten schedule has some built-in flexibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes what are described two sets of collapsible open dates during the weeks of Jan. 18-21 and Jan. 25-28, and the weeks of Feb. 22-25 and March 1-5.

The Buckeyes will not permit any fans in attendance for at least the next 28 days starting this Friday, according to a new athletic department policy.

The November 29 game against UMass-Lowell will take place at the Covelli Center, which is home to seven different varsity sports.

Here is Ohio State’s schedule:

More:Coronavirus upends Chris Holtmann's day; are there more disruptions ahead?

November

25 – Illinois State (2 p.m., ESPN2 or ESPNU)

29 – UMass-Lowell (4 p.m., BTN)

December

2 – Morehead State (5 p.m., BTN)

5 – Alabama A&M (TBD, BTN or BTN+)

8 – at Notre Dame (ACC-Big Ten Challenge)

16 – at Purdue

19 – North Carolina (CBS Sports Classic, Cleveland)

23 – Rutgers

26 – at Northwestern

30 – Nebraska

January

3 – at Minnesota

6 – Penn State

9 – at Rutgers

13 – Northwestern

16 – at Illinois

23 – at Wisconsin

27 – Purdue

31 – Michigan State

February

4 – at Iowa

8 or 9 – at Maryland

13 – Indiana

18 – at Penn State

21 – Michigan

25 – at Michigan State

28 – Iowa

March

6 – Illinois

ajardy@dispatch.com

@AdamJardy