Iowa State Basketball Set To Play C-USA Team in 2026 Hall of Fame Classic

Over the last few years, the Iowa State Cyclones men’s basketball team has established some challenging out-of-conference schedules.

This past year, the team played at the Sanford Pentagon against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, partook in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, traveled to West Lafayette to take on the Purdue Boilermakers, and had their annual Cy-Hawk rivalry game with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Next season, they are going to the Sanford Pentagon again, this time against the Memphis Tigers. They earned a spot in the Players Era Festival field again as one of the best teams in the Big 12. Iowa looms again, and the Boilermakers will be making a return trip to Ames.

Along with all of those challenging games, Iowa State will be playing in another highly regarded basketball event. The Cyclones will be traveling to Kansas City to play in the 2026 Hall of Fame Classic against the Missouri State Bears.

Iowa State heading to Kansas City to face Missouri State

Mar 19, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger talks to the media during a practice session ahead of the first round of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. | Jeff Le-Imagn Images

This is the first time the two programs will ever face off against one another and will be part of a doubleheader. It isn’t a tournament, but the Drake Bulldogs and Wichita State Shockers will also be playing in Kansas City on Dec. 18 ahead of the holiday break.

This will be the 26th year that the NABC will be holding the event, and it is the second time that it is being structured in this format as a neutral-site doubleheader, similar to other events like the Jimmy V Classic and State Farm Champions Classic.

While the event is a neutral site, this is an arena that Iowa State knows well. This is the host site for the Big 12 tournament, where they have a 20-14 record all-time. This will be the first time since 2014 that the Cyclones are partaking in the Hall of Fame Classic.

Hilton South in December.

Iowa State will take on Missouri State on Dec. 18 in the 2026 Hall of Fame Classic at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. First-ever meeting between the two programs.

Details ⬇️https://t.co/CELa7duRoT
— Cyclone Fanatic (@cyclonefanatic) April 23, 2026

12 years ago, they defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 84-74 in their first game before being defeated by the Maryland Terrapins 72-63 in the championship game.

Missouri State is coming off a disappointing 16-18 season, including 8-12 during Conference USA play. But, they are not a team that can be overlooked because they will have this matchup circled on their calendar as a prove-it spot to put their program on the map on the national scale.

You can be sure that T.J. Otzelberger will have his team ready. Despite so many new faces being on the roster, they will have plenty of experience playing at a neutral site by that point in the season, given how many other events the team is scheduled to participate in.

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