By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Iowa’s men’s basketball team will open the Big Ten season in early December with a home game against Northwestern and a road game against Michigan.

The 20-game conference schedule was released Thursday.

The Hawkeyes will play host to Northwestern on December 3, followed by the game at Michigan on December 7.

Iowa won’t get back into conference play until a January 3 game at Wisconsin.

The schedule includes single games against the four Big Ten newcomers. Iowa plays January 14 at USC, followed by a game at UCLA three days later.

The Hawkeyes play host to Oregon on February 19, followed by a home game against Washington three days later.

Among the other features to the schedule for the Hawkeyes:

• Iowa will not play on Super Bowl Sunday for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

• Five of the team’s final eight Big Ten games will be played on the road.

A look at the Big Ten schedule:

December 3 — Northwestern

December 7 — at Michigan

January 3 — at Wisconsin

January 7 — Nebraska

January 11 — Indiana

January 14 — at USC

January 17 — at UCLA

January 21 — Minnesota

January 24 — Penn State

January 27 — at Ohio State

February 4 — Purdue

February 8 — Wisconsin

February 12 — at Rutgers

February 16 — at Maryland

February 19 — Oregon

February 22 — Washington

February 25 — at Illinois

February 28 — at Northwestern

March 6 — Michigan State

March 9 — at Nebraska

Photo: Payton Sandfort (left) and his brother, Pryce, return for Iowa this season. (Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire)