Big Ten releases Iowa basketball's 2021-22 conference opponent lineup

The lineup of 20 Big Ten Conference opponents is set for the 2021-22 Iowa basketball season.

Fran McCaffery’s 12th Hawkeye team will face these teams home and away: Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State and Purdue.

Road-only opponents: Ohio State, Rutgers and Wisconsin.

Home-only opponents: Indiana, Michigan State and Northwestern.

A few nutshell takeaways …

On the surface, it seems like a good thing to have single-plays against some of the Big Ten’s historically top teams in Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin. The Hawkeyes get two games each against three of the bottom four teams in last season’s conference standings in Penn State, Minnesota and Nebraska.

Jordan Bohannon will get one more game in the Kohl Center. Back in February, the story line was written as Bohannon declared many times that his fifth year at Iowa would be his last. But, as we know now, Bohannon has elected to return for a sixth season … which means one (and only one) more regular-season matchup with Wisconsin, where two of his older brothers played.

The Hawkeyes are coming off a 22-9 season in which they lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. They are expected to be in a rebuilding year of sorts, after losing national player of the year Luka Garza, transfers CJ Fredrick and Jack Nunge and likely all-Big Ten swingman Joe Wieskamp

Specific dates will be released at a later date. The Big Ten Tournament is set for March 9-13, 2022, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.