The Hawkeyes will play one of the toughest road schedules in the conference.
The first piece of the 2026-27 Iowa men's basketball schedule was revealed on Tuesday.
The Big Ten released the conference opponents for each of the league's 18 teams, with the full schedule with dates, game times, and television information to be revealed in the fall.
The 20-game slate will have the Hawkeyes playing 14 teams just once (seven at home, seven on the road), and three double plays that will be played both at home and on the road.
Here are the opponents:
Home & Away: Nebraska, Ohio State, Wisconsin
Home Only: Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Michigan State, Oregon, Penn State, Washington
Away Only: Illinois, Michigan, Northwestern, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC
My Thoughts
When I first saw this schedule, my brain immediately went to the home schedule. Outside of winning games, Ben McCollum's primary goal when he took the Iowa job was to re-engage a disgruntled fanbase.
Making the Elite Eight in year one has completely ignited Hawkeye fans, and it wouldn't be surprising to see Carver-Hawkeye Arena become a madhouse next season. It's probably going to stay that way no matter who Iowa plays, but this home schedule leaves a lot to be desired, at least in mid-May.
Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Michigan State will likely be near the top of the conference standings next year, but outside of those teams, the rest are picked to be average at best.
There's pros and cons to this. Obviously if you're playing weaker teams at home, you should beat them, but the crowds may not be as energized as they normally would for a formidable opponent.
While the general consensus among Iowa fans is that the home schedule is in the middle of the pack, the road schedule is anything but. The Hawkeyes will have to play Purdue, Illinois, and defending national champion Michigan in the away only matchups this year. Tricky trips to Nebraska and Wisconsin are also on this slate.
I haven't had a chance to look at the rest of the league schedule, but Iowa's road slate has to be one of, if not the hardest away schedule in the league. The Hawkeyes haven't won at Purdue in 10 years, and it's almost been a decade (2018) since they've won at Illinois, too.
Iowa has found the most success at Michigan in recent years (its won three of five there) but these aren't Juwan Howard's Wolverines anymore. Dusty May and Co. just put together one of the most dominant seasons in college history last year and reportedly spent over $10 million to build their 2026-27 roster.
A lot will change between now and the start of the regular season, but as we navigate through the offseason, the general consensus for Iowa's 2026-27 Big Ten opponents is that the road schedule is one of the most difficult in the conference.
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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at bradschultz@roundtable.io