Iowa Releases Intro Video Before Season Opener vs. Robert Morris

The wait for the black and gold faithful is officially over: the Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball program is about to tip off in their first game of the 2025-26 season. Not only does the incoming campaign offer a refreshing 0-0 record after last year’s disappointing tally (17-16, 7-13), but it supposes new hope for the program under first-year head coach Ben McCollum.

The Team is Built to Last

Set to host the Robert Morris Colonials, McCollum's revamped roster echoes much of what the coach formerly did well during his time as the HC for the Drake Bulldogs; that is, in part, because he took a portion of those players with him.

Yet this year's Iowa squad has taken on a unique identity as a team not only expected to be better than they were in their 2024 run - a rare case for the first year under a new leader - but as a team built to last in an ever-gritty B1G conference.

Iowa Men's Basketball Head Coach Ben McCollum stands for a photo during Iowa Men's Basketball media day at Carver Hawkeye arena in Iowa City, Oct. 15, 2025. | Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Coach McCollum brings steady offensive schemes and grind-it-out ideals on defense in an attempt to identify a program that has gone without a real label for years. With transfer guard (and former Bulldog) Bennett Stirtz at the helm, the anticipation seems to be on a perpetual rise in Iowa City.

To celebrate, the Iowa Men's Basketball team posted their latest iteration of the annual intro video on X (Twitter), to the tune of heaps of hype from the Hawkeyes fanbase:

I-O-W-A 🐤

The 2025-26 Intro Video. pic.twitter.com/a3p5gXZalD
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) November 4, 2025

Face-to-Face With History

In it, Iowa's new roster (fitted in matching gray jumpsuits) traverse through a yellow-lit room chock-full of Hawkeyes history. From old newspaper clippings to retro signs and posters, the team looks on as highlights from some of the team's greatest moments are cut between reveals of the new guys reacting and ramping up for their own season.

Fans, fire, and "pump up" music galore: it's a perfect introduction for a new era, as well as a keen reminder of what the program has been in the past. With the Colonials in the way, Iowa's all-time-high energy is expected to translate well into their first game. The home team is favored by a brutal 22.5 points.

From there, Iowa will certainly face a long season filled with the usual ups and downs of the inaugural season of any coach. Even so, fans are likely to be thrilled with the product regardless, so long as it comfortably surpasses last season's and shows promising signs of even better things to come.

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