UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Big Ten Conference announced single-play and double-play opponents Wednesday afternoon for the 2024-25 Penn State men's basketball season. The Nittany Lions will face 14 single-play opponents and three double-play opponents in the 20-game Big Ten men's basketball slate in the newly-expanded conference that now includes west coast foes Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington.
Penn State will play both home and away games against Indiana, Minnesota and Rutgers. Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Purdue and Washington will each visit Happy Valley as Penn State's home-only opponents. Away games for single-play opponents send Penn State to Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, UCLA, USC and Wisconsin.
Penn State is 3-1 all-time against the four new members of the Big Ten in Oregon (0-1), USC (2-0), UCLA (1-0) and Washington (0-0). All four previous matchups with the Big Ten's new members have been neutral site contests, including a 1991 NCAA Tournament win over UCLA. The Nittany Lions' most recent meeting with one of the four west coast schools came in 2014 when Penn State defeated USC 63-61 on Nov. 23, 2014 as part of the Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C.
Dates, television network assignments and tipoff times for the Big Ten contests will be announced later this year.
Penn State will enter its second season under Peter and Ann Tombros Endowed Head Coach Mike Rhoades in 2024-25. Rhoades laid a strong foundation during his first season at Penn State in 2023-24, leading the Nittany Lions to a 16-17 overall record and 9-11 mark in conference play, marking the second-most Big Ten wins by a first-year head coach in program history. Rhoades engineered the highest-scoring offense under a first-year head coach at Penn State since 1954-55 as the Nittany Lions averaged 75.1 points per game in his debut season. Defensively, Penn State led the Big Ten in steals per game (8.3), turnover margin (+3.6) and three-point percentage defense (30.3%) in 2023-24.
Penn State 2024-25 Big Ten Opponents
Home & Away: Indiana, Minnesota, Rutgers
Home Only: Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Purdue, Washington
Away Only: Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin
