Iowa announced Tuesday that it would play perennial power UConn in a home-and-home series over the next two years. The Hawkeyes aren't quite at blue blood status yet, but they are getting close.
Sellout crowds were a rarity for the Iowa women's basketball program just five years ago.
The Hawkeyes were winning games, but needed someone to come in and show the world what the fans inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena already knew - Iowa women's basketball was special.
That someone eventually turned out to be Caitlin Clark, whose rise to becoming one of the all-time greats in the history of basketball won't probably be mimicked again.
Clark's incredible career resulted in consecutive national championship game appearances in 2023 and 2024. Those were obviously important achievements that brought unprecedented national media attention to the University of Iowa, but the biggest question many had is if the Hawkeyes could sustain the level of success and enthusiasm brought.
It hasn't resulted in postseason success, but through the first two seasons of the Jan Jensen era, all signs point to Iowa continuing its status as one of the biggest brands in women's college basketball.
Why? Because the big dogs are putting the Hawkeyes on their schedule - literally.
On Tuesday, Iowa announced that it would play a home-and-home series with none other than perennial national power Connecticut. The Hawkeyes will travel to either Storrs or Hartford in 2026-27 before making the return trip to Iowa City in 2027-28.
UConn's 2027 visit to Carver-Hawkeye Arena will be its first since 1999. The Iowa program was playing out the final season of Angie Lee's disappointing tenure, but it was the fifth meeting in the last 10 seasons between the two programs.
Head coach Geno Auriemma built the Huskies into an annual national championship contender by this point, so he would only play against some of the nation's best. Matchups against Tennessee and Stanford were frequent, but he wouldn't of scheduled a series with Iowa back then if he didn't think they were a prestigious program.
Lee's mediocre teams slowly crumbled the legacy C. Vivian Stringer built in Iowa City, but 27 years later, the Hawkeyes of the '90s are back.
Would Auriemma schedule a home-and-home with a team he thought was below UConn's standard? I don't think so.
Opposing fanbases (and even some media members) will scoff at this, but like it or not, Iowa women's basketball is one of the biggest brands in the sport, and it's just beginning to build another special chapter under Jensen.
Does that guarantee a victory over the Huskies in either matchup? Absolutely not, but the fact that Auriemma and UConn are willing to play Iowa shows the respect the two teams have for one another.
The Hawkeyes' national prestige continues to grow at a rapid pace.
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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 [email protected]
