Iowa gets Big Ten big boys in 2016, 2017

Iowa received the full force of the Big Ten's promise of parity-based scheduling for the 2016 and 2017 football seasons.

The Hawkeyes will play Penn State twice and Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Rutgers each once as part of the league's inaugural nine-game schedule, which was announced Thursday morning. In 2016, Iowa will play at Rutgers, at Penn State and host Michigan. In 2017, the Hawkeyes will host Ohio State and Penn State and play at Michigan State. Iowa will play Western Division games against Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Illinois, Northwestern and Purdue annually.

The Hawkeyes will not play Maryland or Indiana in 2016 or 2017, but Iowa faces both squads home and away in 2014 and 2015.

A few notes:

• Iowa opens the 2016 Big Ten season at home against Northwestern and travels to Michigan State to begin Big Ten play in 2017.
• Both years Iowa closes against Nebraska on Black Friday
• In 2017, Ohio State visits Kinnick Stadium for the first time since 2010
• Iowa will play Rutgers for the first time on Oct. 29, 2016
• The Hawkeyes will go five years between trips to Michigan State (2012-2017) and Penn State (2011-2016)
• Iowa will miss Michigan in Ann Arbor for at least six years (2012 through at least 2018)
• The Hawkeyes will play on the road four times in a five-week stretch in 2016. Iowa opens with Northwestern, then travels to Minnesota and Purdue. After hosting Wisconsin, Iowa goes on the road at Rutgers and Penn State.
• In 2017, Iowa plays at home four times in a five-week stretch. Iowa faces Illinois and Penn State at home, travels to Northwestern, then hosts Minnesota and Ohio State.
• Indiana and Ohio State open Big Ten play on Sept. 2 in 2017.
• Michigan State and Penn State face each other (as does Maryland-Rutgers) in the regular-season finale in 2016, but Penn State plays Maryland and Michigan State meets Rutgers in the 2017 closer. All other season-ending series -- Michigan-Ohio State, Iowa-Nebraska, Illinois-Northwestern, Minnesota-Wisconsin, Indiana-Purdue -- remain in place.
• There are no scheduled byes in either Big Ten schedule (outside of Ohio State-Indiana in 2017). The league season opens Oct. 1 in 2016 and Sept. 30 in 2017. As scheduled, all byes come in each school's first four weeks.
• Teams could shift regular-season games to an earlier date, but it must be approved by the league's athletics directors.

IOWA 2016 BIG TEN SCHEDULE

• Oct. 1 -- Northwestern
• Oct. 8 -- at Minnesota
• Oct. 15 -- at Purdue
• Oct. 22 -- Wisconsin
• Oct. 29 -- at Rutgers
• Nov. 5 -- at Penn State
• Nov. 12 -- Michigan
• Nov. 19 -- at Illinois
• Nov. 25 (Friday) -- Nebraska

IOWA 2017 BIG TEN SCHEDULE

• Sept. 30 -- at Michigan State
• Oct. 7 -- Illinois
• Oct. 14 -- Penn State
• Oct. 21 -- at Northwestern
• Oct. 28 -- Minnesota
• Nov. 4 -- Ohio State
• Nov. 11 -- at Wisconsin
• Nov. 18 -- Purdue
• Nov. 24 (Friday) -- at Nebraska