The Horizon League unveiled its 2024-25 schedule last week, the conference’s second since adopting what it calls a “modernized approach,” an attempt to balance competitive equity and common-sense travel arrangements. As usual, each of the HL’s 11 members will play a double round robin, meeting each of its ten opponents once at home and once on the road between December 4th and March 1st.
In all, that adds up to 110 league games, but here are ten that carry an unusual amount of intrigue, either for their outsized impact on the championship chase or simply because of their compelling storylines.
December 4 | Wright State at Detroit Mercy
The very first day of conference games brings a fascinating matchup between teams that pushed towards the upper reaches of the standings last year and now have the goal of moving even deeper into contention, but are also dealing with substantial roster makeovers for 2024-25. Both Kari Hoffman and Kate Achter have done remarkable jobs rebuilding programs that started fairly close to zero (though for vastly different reasons), and this contest should show whether they have kept things trending in the right direction.
December 7 | Green Bay at Purdue Fort Wayne
Purdue Fort Wayne, led by The Herd, arguably the best student section in the Horizon League, has proven able to put together a home-court advantage with few peers at the Gates Sports Center. On the court, talented and veteran-heavy PFW seems ready to contend for a championship, and there’s no better test of that status than the reigning conference tournament belt holders. Do the Dons have enough in the tank to take another step this season? This will be our first glimpse of the answer.
December 11 | Green Bay at Milwaukee
The Phoenix has been close to bulletproof in HL games since, well, just about forever. However, their I-43 rivals have done more than okay with the upstate juggernaut recently – in fact, Milwaukee has a 6-5 edge in the series since the 2019-20 season, including a 65-61 stunner at the Kress Center on March 2nd that cost Green Bay a share of the regular season title. The resurgent Panthers have also won three of the last four games played at the Klotsche Center, and this year, they’re catching GB in the aftermath of that tough game in Fort Wayne.
December 18 | Oakland at Robert Morris
Robert Morris was objectively a disaster last season, losing their last eighteen games, a streak that began in the previous calendar year and resulted in the end of the Buscaglia coaching dynasty in Hoop Township. However, Chandler McCabe was universally lauded as a fantastic hire back in March, and the new energy around the Colonials is already apparent. RMU opens their Horizon League slate with tough games against Purdue Fort Wayne and Milwaukee, but the Colonials’ third conference game should be a chance to show some measurable progress.
January 11 | IU Indianapolis at Northern Kentucky
Transfers are a reality of life in modern college athletics, though it remains (somewhat) uncommon for a player to move between schools in the same conference. Yet that’s exactly what happened between NKU and IU Indy this summer – twice, actually – as former Jaguars Abby Wolterman and Jaci Jones moved to play for new coach Jeff Hans and the Norse. Wolterman and Jones will have home court advantage for their first clash with their old teammates, though Katie Davidson and an outstanding class of Jags newcomers will present a challenge on any hardwood.
Photo: Jada Patterson/Green Bay Athletics
January 30 | Cleveland State at Green Bay
The teams that split the HL’s pair of championships during each of the last two years will spend a healthy amount of the schedule eyeballing each other from afar, before finally connecting in late January for the first of what may very well be three meetings once again. Though Cleveland State has won in the Kress Center three times in conference tournament play (including during CSU’s runs to the 2008 and 2010 NCAA Tournaments), the Vikings have never toppled GB in the 17-year-old building during the regular season.
February 13 | Milwaukee at Detroit Mercy
After the calendar turns to February, title hopefuls Milwaukee and Detroit Mercy have what should be fairly manageable closing schedules. One exception to that statement (and there are others, to be clear) is when the Titans and Panthers play each other at Calihan Hall to kick off Valentine’s weekend. This clash could very well decide a first-round bye in the Horizon League tournament, and possibly even home court advantage.
February 15 | Cleveland State at Purdue Fort Wayne
The Mastodons, notably, are in sort of the opposite situation from UWM and UDM: their closing six games are positively brutal. PFW ends their schedule with the infamous Wisconsin trip, but prior to that, the Dons host Wright State and CSU, then travel to Northern Kentucky, before returning home to face the Titans. Maria Marchesano’s squad will need to find a way to grab a couple of wins out of those three weeks, and while the Vikings might not seem the mostly likely candidate, the last couple contests between the teams in Fort Wayne were closer than many might remember.
February 22 | Wright State at Northern Kentucky
One of the HL’s best rivalries always offers plenty in the way of entertainment, though it’s probably a bit dangerous for the Raiders that both of 2024-25’s scheduled games will take place in February. Undoubtedly, the talented Norse – look out for Mya Meredith, who missed last season due to injury – will have developed a level of comfort with Hans and be playing very good basketball by that point, so they could represent a pair of land mines for a WSU team that would like to improve on a fourth-place finish and their subsequent trip to the conference semifinals.
March 1 | Cleveland State at Youngstown State
If you’re looking for chaos on the last day of the regular season, Purdue Fort Wayne’s trip to Green Bay is one obvious potential source. But don’t overlook Cleveland State’s annual visit to the Beeghly Center, a venue that’s always been a viper pit for guests between the raucous crowds and the opponent on the court. New Penguins coach Melissa Jackson and transfer forward Faith Burch have seen CSU’s program from the inside, and while slowing the Vikes down is much easier said than done, they at least know where the pressure points are.
