By JOHN BOHNENKAMP
Ben McCollum’s first Big Ten schedule as Iowa’s men’s basketball coach will include two games with Purdue and road games against the other two new coaches in the conference.
The conference revealed its home-and-home and single-play opponents for each team on Tuesday. Dates, times, and television networks will be released later this summer.
McCollum’s first team will be tested with this conference schedule. Purdue was the No. 1 overall seed in the first way-too-early NCAA bracketology by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, released Tuesday. The Hawkeyes also play defending Big Ten champion Michigan State on the road only.
Some other features of the schedule:
• Iowa gets home-only matchups against Illinois and Michigan, two teams expected to be contenders in the conference after putting together strong classes out of the NCAA’s transfer portal.
• The Hawkeyes get UCLA and USC at home for the first time in Big Ten play. UCLA last played in Iowa City in 1990, an 88-71 win for the Hawkeyes. USC’s last appearance at Carver-Hawkeye Arena was in 1982, a 66-55 win for the Hawkeyes.
• Iowa goes to Washington and Oregon for the first time in conference play. The Hawkeyes’ last game at Oregon was a 108-97 loss in the 2012 NIT. Iowa hasn’t played at Washington since 1966.
• McCollum will face two of the Big Ten’s newest coaches on the road — Darian DeVries at Indiana and Niko Medved at Minnesota. Iowa plays Maryland and new coach Buzz Williams as one of its three double plays.
Here are the matchups, with each team’s overall and Big Ten record this season.
Double Plays
Maryland (27-9, 14-6), Nebraska (21-14, 7-13), Purdue (24-12, 13-7)
Home Only
Illinois (22-13, 12-8), Michigan (27-10, 14-6), Northwestern (17-16, 7-13, Ohio State (17-15, 9-11), Rutgers (15-17, 8-12), UCLA (23-11, 13-7) and USC (17-18, 7-13)
Away Only
Indiana (19-13, 10-10), Michigan State (30-7, 17-3), Minnesota (15-17, 7-13), Penn State (16-15, 6-14), Wisconsin (27-10, 13-7), Washington (13-18, 4-16) and Oregon (25-10, 12-8)
Photo: UCLA’s Skyy Clark looks to drive on Iowa’s Drew Thelwell in last season’s game in Los Angeles. Clark and the Bruins will be one of Iowa’s home single-plays in next season’s Big Ten schedule. (David Dennis/Icon Sportswire)
