As Michigan coaches sit down and analyzes the Big Ten portion of its basketball schedule, they can't be too upset.

No elongated road trips. No horrific travel. Eight games on national television with the option for at least two more, including a decent opener at Indiana on New Year's Eve.

But one thing about Michigan's Big Ten schedule sticks out - and it's probably the one stretch of games that John Beilein will look at and shake his head.

If the Wolverines, coming off a second-round NCAA tournament appearance and a 21-14 record, want to compete for a Big Ten regular-season championship and gain national attention, it must navigate one brutal five-game stretch in late January.

It begins with Indiana at Crisler Arena on Jan. 14. That game shouldn't be too concerning. The Hoosiers are still trying to climb out of the Kelvin Sampson fiasco and Tom Crean won't quite have it there to win on the road against an experienced team like Michigan.

But ...

Check out what comes after. Three days later, Connecticut - with two Wooden Award candidates and a team that rarely ventures outside of the top tier in the Big East, has a legendary coach (Jim Calhoun) and potentially the most athletic lineup Michigan will see outside of Kansas - comes to Crisler. Michigan, depending on what happens in Orlando and at Kansas, could be in the Top 10.

Following that is the toughest two-game road trip of the season. Michigan goes to Wisconsin, which plays a markedly different style than Connecticut, on Jan. 20. Winning in the world of Bo Ryan is never easy.

Then, in one of the marquee games of the Big Ten season, Michigan goes to Purdue on Jan. 23, a little less than a year after the Elbow Heard Round Mackey that connected from Manny Harris to the face of Purdue's Chris Kramer. Now, Harris has to go back, on national television. Think that won't be brought up, oh, 1,000 times? Never mind both teams might be in the Top 10.

Following that is a return home, where Michigan State will await with two Wooden candidates of its own in Kalin Lucas and Raymar Morgan.

So, to break down, five games against four potentially ranked teams in 13 days. Considering the depth of the Big Ten this year - it'll compete with the ACC for the nation's top conference as the Big East will take a drop from last season - it's a rough stretch.

Last year, covering the Big East, almost every top team had a stretch like this. The good - Pittsburgh, Louisville, Villanova, Connecticut - survived and ended up making deep NCAA tournament runs. Those with holes - Notre Dame, Georgetown - ended up in the NIT. It won't be as dire for Michigan this year as the Wolverines will likely have built up enough non-conference stock before Big Ten play that they'll be a tournament team barring an epic collapse, but this stretch could be a precursor to how well Michigan will play in the postseason.

BEST STRETCH: Jan. 7-14: After going to Indiana and opening the home schedule against Ohio State, Michigan has a stretch of three winnable games at Penn State and home against Northwestern and Indiana that could potentially push Michigan to 5-0. It, however, is immediately followed by ...

TOUGHEST STRETCH: Jan. 14-26: if you've made it this far, you know what the biggest concern could be in the entire schedule, at least before games are played. A look-ahead game against Indiana, a stiff non-conference test and then three tough conference games could be the season-shaper for Michigan.

BIGGEST TRAP GAME: Feb. 16 at Iowa: Coming from Minnesota and before a pretty tough finishing stretch including road games at Ohio State and Michigan State, playing in Iowa City could be a reason to look ahead. Iowa, as it has been the past few years, won't be much better than years past. But on the road anything can happen.

MOST ANTICIPATED GAME: March 6/7 at Michigan State: The Purdue game, with the Harris-Kramer drama, might have the most sizzle, but the season-ender in East Lansing could have Big Ten title and NCAA seeding implications for both teams. Depending what happens the rest of the way, it could be for the top seed in the Big Ten tournament.

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 on Twitter @mikerothstein.