With Iowa men's basketball's 2026-27 regular season just under a week away, it's time to go for it and predict the entire schedule game-by-game. 

Many outlets don't do game-by-game basketball predictions because there's 30+ games to discuss, but in my opinion, the best way to predict a season is to actually go by the game. 

And this isn't just any Hawkeye basketball season. While Iowa fans were filled with apathy near the end of the Fran McCaffery era, Ben McCollum re-energized this fanbase with a thrilling Elite Eight run in the spring. 

The Hawkeyes lost some key pieces, but they feel they have what it takes to put together a better regular season performance in 2027. Having more size in the frontcourt should help, but there's also plenty of depth at guard, too. 

Will it all lead to a fun winter inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena? We'll soon find out. 

Here's how I see the 2026-27 season playing out. 

*All game times CDT 

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, IA 

Time: 7 p.m. on BTN 

Prediction: Iowa wins (1-0) 

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena 

Time: 7:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network 

Prediction: Iowa wins (2-0) 

Location: Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, IA 

Time: 6 p.m. on FS1

Prediction: Iowa wins (3-0) 

Location: Casey's Center in Des Moines, IA 

Time: 2 p.m. on FS1 

Prediction: Iowa wins (4-0) 

Location: Cintas Center in Cincinnati, OH 

Time: 6:30 p.m. on TNT 

Prediction: Iowa wins (5-0)

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena 

Time: 6 p.m. on Big Ten Plus 

Prediction: Iowa wins (6-0) 

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena 

Time: 1 p.m. on Big Ten Plus 

Prediction: Iowa wins (7-0) 

Location: Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, IN 

Time: 6 p.m. on Peacock 

Prediction: Purdue wins (7-1, 0-1) 

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena 

Time: 6 p.m. on FS1 

Prediction: Iowa wins (8-1, 1-1) 

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena 

Time: 6 p.m. on FS1 

Prediction: Iowa wins (9-1) 

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena 

Time: 5 p.m. on BTN

Prediction: Iowa wins (10-1) 

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena 

Time: 8 p.m. on BTN 

Prediction: Iowa wins (11-1) 

Location: Casey's Center in Des Moines, IA 

Time: 6 p.m. on Peacock 

Prediction: Alabama wins (11-2) 

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena 

Time: 7:30 p.m. on BTN 

Prediction: Iowa wins (12-2) 

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena 

Time: 11 a.m. on Peacock 

Prediction: Iowa wins (13-2, 2-1) 

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena 

Time: 7:30 p.m. on FS1 

Prediction: Iowa wins (14-2, 3-1) 

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena

Time: 5 p.m. 

Prediction: Iowa wins (15-2, 4-1) 

Location: Jersey Mikes Arena in Piscataway, NJ 

Time: 7:30 p.m. on BTN 

Prediction: Iowa wins (16-2, 5-1) 

Location: Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, NE 

Time: 7 p.m. on FS1 or FOX 

Prediction: Iowa loses (16-3, 5-2) 

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena

Time: 3 p.m. on BTN 

Prediction: Iowa wins (17-3, 6-2) 

Location: Value City Arena in Columbus, OH 

Time: 5 p.m. on FS1 

Prediction: Iowa wins (18-3, 7-2) 

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena 

Time: 4 p.m. on Peacock 

Prediction: Iowa wins (19-3, 8-2) 

Location: Galen Center in Los Angeles, CA 

Time: 9:30 p.m. on BTN 

Prediction: USC wins (19-4, 8-3) 

Location: Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, CA 

Time: 5 or 7 p.m. on FOX 

Prediction: UCLA wins (19-5, 8-4) 

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena 

Time: 7:30 p.m. 

Prediction: Iowa wins (20-5, 9-4) 

Location: Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, IL 

Time: 1 p.m. on FS1 

Prediction: Northwestern wins (20-6, 9-5) 

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena 

Time: 8 p.m. on Peacock 

Prediction: Michigan State wins (20-7, 9-6) 

Location: Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, MI 

Time: 12 p.m. on CBS 

Prediction: Michigan wins (20-8, 9-7) 

Location: Kohl Center in Madison, WI 

Time: 7:30 p.m. on FS1 

Prediction: Iowa wins (21-8, 10-7) 

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena 

Time: 1 p.m. on BTN 

Prediction: Iowa wins (22-8, 11-7) 

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena 

Time: 6 p.m. on BTN 

Prediction: Iowa wins (23-8, 12-7) 

Location: State Farm Center in Champaign, IL 

Time: 7 p.m. on FOX 

Prediction: Illinois wins (23-9, 12-8) 

Regular season record: (23-9, 12-8) 

NCAA tournament seed: No. 6 

So there you have it. It's extremely hard to forecast how any season could play out, but it's especially challenging for basketball because there are so many teams that could emerge out of nowhere in the always-unpredictable Big Ten. Though the Hawkeyes are picked by the national media to finish 10th in the league, it's hard to see this team dipping that low. It's so hard to pick a conference finish, but based off this final record pick, a 12-8 conference mark should have Iowa ending up in the top eight or top seven of the standings. 

As for the complete record prediction, remember this: focus on the actual record, not the games I have Iowa losing. I have the Hawkeyes losing just one home game in this scenario (to Michigan State) and they very well could drop more or even steal some games on the road. That's just basketball, folks. 

But in all, I think this has the potential to be a very good basketball team. Everyone thinks the loss of Bennett Stirtz will cost Iowa some wins this year, and while the Hawkeyes certainly need to find their go-to scorer, the addition of 7-foot-3 big man Andrew McKeever is going to make a huge difference for this team. Not only should McKeever be an intimidating rim protector, his presence should provide scoring opportunities for driving guards or Cam Manyawau. The Hawkeyes were a true big man away from going to the Final Four last year, and they're going to fare much better in the paint this year because of it. 

Will it lead to NCAA tournament success again? It's definitely too early to foresee that, but I think a No. 6 seed is a safe bet for this team because of their schedule. There are marquee games all over the place, especially in the non-conference. The name of the game these days is to keep those metrics as high as possible and that's what McCollum and Co. have done. 

It should be a fun winter in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.