Indiana Basketball: Breaking down 2023-24 non-conference schedule

Early-season tournaments

Indiana doesn’t have any challenges or specially-named contests on their non-conference schedule. What they do have is the Empire Classic, which will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York on November 19 and 20. The matchups aren’t set yet, but the Hoosiers are guaranteed to play two of the following three teams:

UConn

This is the worst-case scenario for the Hoosiers, the team they least want to face in this field. Frankly, nobody wants to face the defending national champions, even if they don’t return some of the stars of last year, including Adama Sanogo, Jordan Hawkins, and Andre Jackson. The Huskies should still be elite with the return of Tristen Newton and the emergence of Donovan Clingan, which could create some interesting battles with Ware inside. There’s also a star freshman class to contend with, along with Rutgers transfer Cam Spencer.

Texas

The Longhorns are going to be a fascinating team to follow this season. Rodney Terry deserved the full-time job after keeping Texas on track following Chris Beard’s dismissal, but the Big 12 is changing around the Longhorns. Some of the team’s best players are gone, but Tyrese Hunter and Dillon Mitchell are back. Meanwhile, they landed one of the top transfers in the country, former Oral Roberts star Max Abmas.

Louisville

This is the best-case scenario for anyone in the field. There’s almost no way Louisville will be as terrible as they were last year, when they won four total games during Kenny Payne’s maiden season. But they may not be significantly better, as they’ll be relying largely on freshmen to help turn the tide. It’s a great class, but one that will likely need more seasoning than it will have by the time the Empire Classic is played.

Indiana will want to get out to a hot start in non-conference play and ride the momentum to another NCAA Tournament.