Ohio State’s 2015-2016 basketball schedule may include Northern Illinois

Last week, we reported that Ohio State basketball would face Mount St.Mary’s next season. The matchup with the Mountaineers gives Ohio State seven known games for next year’s schedule, with six remaining. While we don’t have any new announcements, we have learned a few things over the last week about Ohio State’s schedule.

Based on Ohio State’s recent scheduling patterns, it would make sense to assume that the Buckeyes would schedule at least one team from the MAC for next year. No MAC games have been signed yet, but there was some message board chatter that the Buckeyes would face Northern Illinois next season. I spoke to two sources at Northern Illinois, and while both confirmed to me that there is no official game yet, they also both confirmed that Ohio State and NIU have discussed a game (the dates discussed were in December), and if one was to happen, a contract for it would get signed later this month. Basketball scheduling is fluid, and nothing is official until the contract is signed, but I personally believe this is likely to happen.