Memphis continues to announce scheduling news for the 2026 basketball season, and on Wednesday, it announced a neutral-site game against Iowa to start the season. The Tigers will meet the Cyclones at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Monday, November 2, to start the 2026 season.
This news comes a day after The American and the A-10 announced a scheduling agreement that will see Memphis play Dayton on November 29. It’s also the third new opponent that has been announced for next season after the Tigers announced a home-and-home with Texas on February 27.
The season-opener will be only the second meeting between the two teams. Iowa State won the first meeting 78-59 in another game that was played on a neutral site at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. In that game, which was part of the NIT Season Tip-Off MTE, Tyrese Hunter started for the Cyclones and finished with nine points and five assists in 33 minutes.
Iowa State is looking for its fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance this season, and T.J. Otzelberger’s team is projected as a No. 3 seed in several mock drafts. Otzelberger took over a 2-22 team, and he has turned them into one of the top teams in the Big 12.
“We’re excited to be part of an event like this and to face a perennial top-10 program like Iowa State,” Penny Hardaway said in a press release. “It’s a great opportunity for our team early in the season to measure ourselves against a really good opponent in a great setting.”
The Cyclones are the second known Big 12 opponent that the Tigers will play in 2026, as Hardaway’s team will head to Waco to play Baylor on December 5. Those two opponents join Texas, Louisville, Baylor, Vanderbilt, Utah State and Dayton as known opponents for next season.
It’ll be interesting to see what else Memphis adds to its non-conference schedule and if it will add more high major opponents to a non-conference slate that already features six power conference opponents. The Tigers also have yet to announce an MTE they will participate in next year.