:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48658813/CZv83quVAAAVGPJ.0.0.jpg)
On the eve of the first annual Big Ten "Super Saturday" men's hockey-men's basketball doubleheader at Madison Square Garden, the opponents for the 2017 and 2018 slates have officially been announced.
Unlike this year's, which has a true doubleheader between Michigan and Penn State, the league will have one team play in both. That may be in part due to the fact there are only six Big Ten schools which sponsor hockey although it takes away the point of a doubleheader.
Regardless, all six schools will make at least one trip to the "World's Most Famous Arena" in the next two years.
Wisconsin will be the focus of the 2017 "Super Saturday" games. The Badgers face Ohio State in hockey and nearby Rutgers in basketball on January 28, 2017.
Minnesota gets the focus treatment in 2018. Hockey will play Michigan State and basketball will face Ohio State on January 20, 2018. As far as hockey goes, the Spartans will give up a home date while Gopher basketball will do the same.
(It'll also be the first of two trips in the 2018 calendar year for Minnesota. In addition to the Super Saturday game, part of the 2017-18 season, the Gophers reportedly will play North Dakota in Las Vegas on October 27, 2018.)
2019 is still TBD for hockey. Penn State is the odds-on favorite once again given locale and the Big Ten wanting the Nittany Lions to play there, however, whoever does will end up being the main event to an Illinois at Maryland (two schools that do not currently sponsor men's hockey) basketball game.
In December 2014 the Big Ten announced a 4 year hockey-hoops doubleheader series at Madison Square Garden as part of the conference's East Coast expansion.
-------------------
Nathan Wells is a college hockey columnist for SB Nation mostly covering both the University of Minnesota and Big Ten. You can also follow him on Twitter -- Follow @gopherstate