On Tuesday, Iowa released the full schedule for the 2023-24 men's basketball season. While much of the non-conference slate was known, as well as which Big Ten opponents Iowa would play twice and which the Hawkeyes would play only home or away, the full schedule lets us see when and where all of Iowa's games will take place this season.
Most games do not have set tip-off times or TV information yet; the schedule will be updated when that information becomes available.
Here's the 2023-24 schedule:
NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
It's often difficult to determine in advance how difficult a college basketball schedule is going to be, thanks to the massive turnover that many teams undergo from season-to-season. The transfer portal makes it easy for teams to add -- or lose -- a lot of talent in a single off-season.
That said, here's a brief look at how Iowa's non-conference opponents fared last season:
Only four of Iowa's potential non-conference opponents played in the postseason last year, and the Hawkeyes can actually only play three of those teams -- they'll face either USC or Seton Hall in their second game at the Rady Children's Invitational tournament in San Diego over Thanksgiving, but not both.
Six non-conference opponents ranked 250th or worse in the final KenPom rankings last season, and two (Alabama State and Florida A&M) were among the worst teams in Division I last season. This is a schedule designed to give Iowa an opportunity to bank a lot of wins in November and December.
That said, there will be a few early season tests as well. Creighton has been a very strong program in recent seasons and facing them in Omaha as part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games in November will be a big early season challenge. Iowa State (with superstar freshman Omaha Biliew) in Ames will be another difficult game early in the year. And Oklahoma and USC/Seton Hall ought to provide some credible opposition at the Rady Children's Invitational.
Nor will Iowa want to overlook any opponent or come out flat in any game -- it was only last year that Iowa was upset by Eastern Illinois in non-conference play, after all.
BIG TEN OPPONENTS
In terms of Big Ten play, this is the breakdown of Iowa's opponents and where they play them.
HOME AND AWAY: Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Maryland, Penn State, Illinois
HOME ONLY: Rutgers, Nebraska, Ohio State
AWAY ONLY: Indiana, Michigan State, Northwestern
Purdue is the Big Ten preseason favorite entering the season, so facing them twice won't be easy. Maryland and Illinois are also pegged to for upper-half finishes and will be tough tests for the Hawkeyes. On the other hand, Minnesota and Penn State may be near the bottom of the conference, so getting four games against those squads could boost Iowa's win-loss record.
The home-only schedule looks favorable and Iowa will need to win those games, especially since the road-only schedule includes trips to Bloomington and East Lansing, two venues that haven't always been kind to Hawkeye hoops in the past.
OTHER SCHEDULING NOTES
* One notable absence from this year's schedule: an ACC opponent in early December. Unfortunately, last season was the final year for the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. It does not appear that Iowa replaced that slot on the non-conference schedule with another major conference opponent, either.
Iowa's only major conference opponents in November and December are Creighton (part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games), Oklahom and USC/Seton Hall (at the Rady Children's Invitational), and Iowa State. Iowa obviously plays Iowa State every season and they also typically play in a holiday tournament every season as well; they don't play in the Gavitt Games every season, but they have been a frequent participant.
* Iowa has six weekend home games (three on Saturday and three on Sunday), as well as five Friday night home games. That should make this a more fan-friendly schedule than many the Hawkeyes have had -- there ought to be very few 8 PM-on-a-Wednesday tipoffs at Carver-Hawkeye Arena this year.
* Iowa has a difficult mini-gauntlet of opponents in early December: at Purdue (12/4), at Iowa State (12/7), and home to Michigan (12/10). A 2-1 record in those games would be a tremendous achievement.
* 7 of Iowa's final 12 Big Ten games are on the road, so the Hawkeyes may need to try and bank wins early in the season to give themselves more of a buffer for that difficult late-season stretch. To that end, Iowa's stretch of four home games in five games from January 6 to January 24 could be important -- though Purdue and Maryland figure to be difficult opponents home or away this season.
* Scheduling quirk: Iowa doesn't face Illinois at all until February 24 in Champaign -- then plays them again two weeks later in Iowa City.
