Iowa Hawkeyes Basketball: Regular Season Schedule Finalized

The Big Ten’s Conference schedule was officially released this afternoon:

The final opponents and dates for the non-conference schedule were also finalized, as two preseason exhibitions (William Jewell, 10/27; Belmont Abbey (11/2) and four regular season opponents (Alabama State, 11/12; Grambling State, 11/16; Southern, 12/10; Northern Illinois, 12/29) were added. All are home games. Iowa’s Big Ten-ACC Challenge date in Blacksburg against Virginia Tech was also set for November 28th.

Two stretches of games stick out to me:

• 11/28 - 12/7: Iowa has travel between each of their four games against Virginia Tech, Penn State (home), Indiana (away), and Iowa State (away). I’d be pleased if they got through this stretch 3-1, especially if they can start the conference footing off to a 2-0 start.
• 2/6 - 2/25: The Hawks’ conference schedule is backloaded, with four tournament teams in their last six games. Neither Ohio State on the road or Indiana at home should be penned-in victories as they’ll have 20+ games with new coaches. It will be imperative to bank wins in the first half of the conference season because this is a gauntlet - or at least the closest resemblance of one on their schedule.

What do you make of their slate?

Full schedule below via @IowaHawkeyes:

Schedule via @IowaHawkeyes