With college football officially in the rearview mirror, Iowa Hawkeye fans can fully devote their collegiate attention to basketball for the next several months. While that obviously means tuning in to all of Iowa’s games, it also means being aware of other games going on around the country. This is, after all, an Iowa team with its sights set on winning not just a Big Ten Championship, but also a National Championship.

So, each week until Selection Sunday, we’ll be highlighting games to watch every weekend with a tie in to our Hawkeye rooting interests.

Here’s what to watch in week 10 of the college basketball season.

The Iowa Hawkeyes have been on a break for a little over a week thanks to the COVID-19 postponement of the Nebraska matchup. But They’re back in action on Friday night before getting the rest of the weekend off ahead of a rescheduled matchup with Michigan State next week.

Here’s a look at what other games to check out this weekend.

Friday Night

The big game of the weekend, of course, comes tonight as your #7 Iowa Hawkeyes travel to the #19 Illinois Fighting Illini. It’s an 8pm tip and you can catch the action on FS1. There are, unfortunately, no other games of real consequence to take in while we wait.

Saturday

Saturday is again the big score for college hoops fans. There are two Big Ten games to take in after Michigan went on pause. At 2pm, #14 Wisconsin heads to Penn State on BTN. Doubt the Badgers drop this one, but that’s what Iowa fans should be rooting for from a Big Ten standings standpoint. The other matchup features #21 Minnesota at Purdue. That’s also on BTN at 6:30pm. Either way here is a net benefit to Iowa as the winner likely jumps back to a Q1 win for the Hawkeyes. However, Purdue is a game and a half ahead of the Gophers in the standings and Iowa played Minnesota twice this year so Hawkeye fans will need to suck it up and pull for the rodents.

Outside the conference, there are a number of games featuring highly ranked teams Iowa is competing with for seeding. As noted, the Michigan Wolverines are on pause, but all three of the other 1 seeds this week are in action Saturday. That includes #3 Villanova at Seton Hall at 2pm CT on FOX, #2 Baylor hosting Auburn at 3pm CT on ESPN and #1 Gonzaga at Pepperdine on ESPN2 starting at 7pm CT. Obviously, Iowa fans are rooting for them all to lose.

The Hawkeyes are currently on the two line, as discussed in the weekly bracketology breakdown. Just one of the other 2 seeds is also set to be in action on Saturday as #5 Texas has already had their matchup with Kentucky postponed due to COVID-19 issues for the Wildcats. That leaves #9 Alabama at #24 Oklahoma on ESPN. That’s an 11am tip Saturday. Houston isn’t in action until Sunday.

Here’s a rundown other games worth watching on Saturday (team to root for bolded):

• #10 Texas Tech at LSU - 1pm on ESPN2
• Florida at #11 West Virginia - 1pm on ESPN
• TCU at #12 Missouri - 1pm on ESPNU
• #8 Virginia at #20 Virginia Tech - 5pm on ACCN

Sunday

With all the action on Saturday there isn’t much left for Sunday. As noted, the #6 Houston Cougars play host to SMU. That’s a noon CT tip on ESPN and we’re on the Mustangs, of course.

Then in the Big Ten, there are a pair of matchups that could help out the Hawkeyes. At noon, #13 Ohio State is hosting a Michigan State team that looked broken in their first game back from pause. Iowa fans should be rooting for the Spartans to figure it out... but just for this one game. You can find it on CBS.

At 6:30pm CT, Northwestern is hosting Rutgers on BTN. As was called out in the bracketology update, the Wildcats have fallen in the NET rankings and Iowa needs them to make a bit of a climb to help their resume.

And that’s it for this week.