Iowa men's schedule nears release, ticket prices likely to go down

Iowa men's basketball is likely to give their athletics department a financial reprieve this fall on travel.

Iowa makes three trips in non-conference play: Iowa State, Northern Iowa and the CBE Classic (against two of Texas, Pittsburgh or Wichita State) in Kansas City. All three are bus trips rather than flights for the Hawkeyes. Last year, Iowa traveled to Charleston, S.C., Las Vegas and Boston for non-conference games.

Iowa's non-conference schedule, which also includes home games against Drake and Virginia Tech. One contract is out right now, which is why the school hasn't released the schedule yet.

It also appears Iowa will miss out on the flight to Penn State this year. The Big Ten schedule is not finalized, but that trip wasn't included on the league's rough draft schedule. That will be released later this summer or early fall.

It also appears Iowa will lower overall men's basketball ticket prices this year. Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta said Tuesday that no decision has been made.

"Taking into account the economy, taking into account we're rebuilding our program and getting back to where we want to be, we're taking a look at lowering some of the ticket prices," he said.

Iowa averaged 100 more fans this year (10,861) than last year, but it's way off from the early part of the decade when Iowa averaged a sell-out. After a an all-time worst start, Iowa dropped ticket prices for its final five home games to $10 each. That gave the department a major lift in bodies, although not necessarily the bottom line.

"This past year, it (attendance) actually took a small dip up," Barta said. "So that's a good sign."