Hawkeye Basketball Open Conference Slate at Home Dec. 29 [Video]

The Big Ten Conference announced its men’s basketball league schedule for the 2015-16 season. The University of Iowa opening at home Tuesday, Dec. 29, against Michigan State. It will mark the fifth time in six years that the Hawkeyes will open league play at home under head coach Fran McCaffery.

The home conference schedule features five games midweek (Michigan State, Dec. 29; Nebraska, Jan. 5; Penn State, Jan. 31; Wisconsin, Feb. 24; Indiana, March 1) and four on Sundays (Michigan, Jan. 17; Purdue, Jan. 24; Northwestern, Jan. 31; Minnesota, Feb. 14).

Iowa returns eight letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's squad that won 22 games, tied for third place in the Big Ten and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

Iowa will open the regular season, Nov. 13, against Gardner-Webb. The Hawkeyes boast a 45-10 (.818) record on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena the last three seasons (2012-15).

Game times and television information for each game will be announced at a later date.

Iowa will play five Big Ten teams twice and eight teams once. The Hawkeyes will compete against Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, and Purdue twice. Iowa will host Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern and Wisconsin, and travel to Illinois, Maryland, Ohio State, and Rutgers.

Three of Iowa’s first five games will come against teams from the state of Michigan. Iowa will open at home against Michigan State on Dec. 29 and then play the Spartans two weeks later in East Lansing on Jan. 14. The Hawkeyes will host Michigan on Jan. 17.

Iowa's two conference "byes" are the weekends of Jan. 9/10 and Feb. 20/21.

Iowa will not leave the state of Iowa during the month of December. The Hawkeyes will play five home games (four nonconference and one league contest), visit Ames to face Iowa State and travel to Des Moines to compete against Drake on a neutral court.

This season will mark the first during the Fran McCaffery era that Iowa will play on the road in its regular season finale. Due to the University of Iowa and Carver-Hawkeye Arena hosting the Big Ten Wrestling Championships (March 5-6), the Hawkeye basketball team will finish league play at Michigan on March 5.

Date Opponent Site

Thurs., Oct. 29 University of Sioux Falls & IOWA CITY

Fri., Nov. 6 Augustana (South Dakota) & IOWA CITY Unveiling

Fri., Nov. 13 Gardner-Webb IOWA CITY

Sun., Nov. 15 Coppin State IOWA CITY

Thurs., Nov. 19 at Marquette # Milwaukee, Wis.

Thurs., Nov. 26 vs. Dayton + Orlando, Fla.

Fri., Nov. 27 vs. Notre Dame/Monmouth + Orlando, Fla.

Sun., Nov. 29 vs. TBD + Orlando, Fla.

Wed., Dec. 2 Florida State % IOWA CITY

Sat., Dec. 5 Missouri-Kansas City IOWA CITY

Mon., Dec. 7 Western Illinois IOWA CITY

Thurs., Dec. 10 at Iowa State * Ames, Iowa

Sat., Dec. 19 vs. Drake ^ Des Moines, Iowa

Tues., Dec. 22 Tennessee Tech IOWA CITY

Tues., Dec. 29 Michigan State IOWA CITY

Sat., Jan. 2 at Purdue West Lafayette, Ind.

Tues., Jan. 5 Nebraska IOWA CITY

Thurs., Jan. 14 at Michigan State East Lansing, Mich.

Sun., Jan. 17 Michigan IOWA CITY

Thurs., Jan. 21 at Rutgers Piscataway, N.J.

Sun., Jan. 24 Purdue IOWA CITY

Thurs., Jan. 28 at Maryland College Park, Md.

Sun., Jan. 31 Northwestern IOWA CITY

Wed., Feb. 3 Penn State IOWA CITY

Sun., Feb. 7 at Illinois Champaign, Ill.

Thurs., Feb. 11 at Indiana Bloomington, Ind.

Sun., Feb. 14 Minnesota IOWA CITY

Wed., Feb. 17 at Penn State University Park, Pa.

Wed., Feb. 24 Wisconsin IOWA CITY

Sat./Sun., Feb. 27/28 at Ohio State Columbus, Ohio T

ues., March 1 Indiana IOWA CITY

Sat., March 5 at Michigan Ann Arbor, Mich.

Wed.-Sun., Mar. 9-13 at Big Ten Tournament Indianapolis

Tues.-Wed., Mar. 15-16 at First Four Dayton, Ohio

Thurs.-Sun., Mar. 17-20 at NCAA Tournament, Second / Third Rounds

Thurs.-Sun., Mar. 24-27 at NCAA Tournament Regional Finals

Sat.-Mon., Apr. 2-4 at NCAA Final Four Houston Note: All times listed are central time

^ - - Hy-Vee Big Four Classic in Des Moines, Iowa

# - - Gavitt Games

* - - Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series

% - - Big Ten / ACC Challenge

+ - - Advocare Invitational & - - exhibition