Michigan basketball coach John Beilein has learned a lot about scheduling in his first three seasons with the Wolverines.

At a school that recruits nationally and has a fan base and reputation that spans from New York to California, he’s always looking for marquee non-conference games like the one at 1:30 p.m. Sunday against No. 15 Connecticut (11-5, 2-3 Big East).

But he’ll only schedule a big non-conference game in the middle of the Big Ten season when the campus is full.

“We’d only have a game like this again if our students are on campus,” Beilein said. “We had the one UCLA game with our students off campus, and that won’t happen again. If we’re going to play a team like this home-and-home, go to them first and bring them back, then our students can enjoy it.”

In Beilein’s first year, he had then-No. 8 UCLA come to Ann Arbor on Dec. 22. Students were on break, and when the student section is thin the energy in arenas dips unless it is a big rivalry or conference game.

That shouldn’t be an issue Sunday, as Michigan will have its students in their usual place behind the team benches and are also having a “maize out,” where all fans are being asked to wear the color to the game. The school is also giving out “rally spinners” to the first 7,000 fans Sunday.

And Michigan will have another color-coordinated “maize out” on Jan. 26 against Michigan State, where the first 3,000 fans will get maize T-shirts.

A big name for next season: Kansas is scheduled to come to Ann Arbor .

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.