Big Ten Reveals Massive Home Games For Ben McCollum And Iowa In 2025-26

The Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball program announced on Tuesday that they've been given their Big Ten Single & Double Plays for the 2025-26 season — which is going to be the inaugural campaign for new head coach Ben McCollum.

While that sounds like some kind of gambling term, what it actually means is that the Big Ten let Iowa know which other Big Ten teams it will be playing once, and which ones the Hawkeyes will have home and away matchups with.

That's how things now work in the 18-team conference. The Hawkeyes will ultimately play 20 conference games in 2025-26. They'll play 14 Big Ten opponents once, with seven contests coming at home and seven on the road. They play home and road games against three opponents next season: Maryland, Nebraska and Purdue.

The away games will come against Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota, Penn State, Wisconsin, Washington and Oregon. It's going to be tough to play MSU in East Lansing and Indiana in Bloomington, and heading out to the West Coast to take on Washington and Oregon will undoubtedly be a test for McCollum and his team.

Perhaps the even bigger tests, though, will be the home games on the schedule. Iowa will welcome in Illinois, Michigan, Northwestern, Ohio State, Rutgers, UCLA and USC to Carver-Hawkeye Arena next season as "home only" teams.

Combine those seven teams with Maryland, Nebraska and Purdue, and that's a huge slate of games.

Of those ten Big Ten teams coming to Iowa City, six were NCAA Tournament teams last season. Michigan was a No. 5 seed and made it to the Sweet 16. Maryland, as a No. 4 seed, also made it to the Sweet 16 before losing to the eventual national champion Florida Gators. Not to be outdone, Purdue was a No. 4 seed that lost to top-seeded Houston in the Sweet 16. Houston was the NCAA Tournament runner-up. Illinois and UCLA also made the tournament.

Those six programs should once again be March Madness teams next season, and that's not to mention the fact that Ohio State and USC are traditionally good basketball programs. Nebraska didn't make the tournament last season, but the Huskers are always a tough out, considering the rivalry between the two schools. Who knows, even Northwestern and Rutgers could provide problems on the right night.

Either way, these are some tough games for the Hawkeyes, even if they're being played in Iowa City.

There are high expectations for McCollum after what he did at Drake last season and what he's done in the transfer portal this offseason.

Dates and times haven't been announced yet for Iowa's 2025-26 schedule, but you can bet Carver-Hawkeye Arena is going to be bumping for Big Ten action.