Iowa will have a men’s basketball game next Wednesday.
It also will have one on Christmas.
The Hawkeyes released 25 of the 27 games and dates it has booked for the 2020-21 season. Home games against Iowa State and Western Illinois are still to be finalized.
No. 5 Iowa starts the season next Wednesday at home against North Carolina Central at 3 p.m., a pre-holiday matinee. It will come back with a home contest against Southern University next Friday at 4 p.m., which will start less than an hour after the Nebraska-Iowa football game ends that day.
Games against North Carolina at home and against No. 1 Gonzaga in Sioux Falls, S.D., were already set, for Dec. 8 and Dec. 19, respectively.
Iowa plays three Big Ten games in December, starting with a Dec. 22 home game against Purdue. The Hawkeyes’ game at Minnesota is one of four Big Ten Christmas contests, at a time to be announced.
The conference has two sets of “collapsible byes” during the weeks of Jan. 18-21 and Jan. 25-28, and again on the weeks of Feb. 22-25 and March 1-5 to provide spots for missed games due to COVID-19.
2020-21 Iowa men’s basketball schedule
Nov. 25: N.C. Central, 3 p.m.
Nov. 27: Southern 4 p.m.
TBD: Western Illinois
Dec. 8: North Carolina
TBD: Iowa State
Dec. 13: Northern Illinois
Dec. 19: vs. Gonzaga in Sioux Falls, S.D., 11 a.m.
Dec. 22: Purdue
Dec. 25 at Minnesota
Dec. 29: Northwestern
Jan. 2: at Rutgers
Jan. 7: at Maryland
Jan. 10 or 11: Minnesota
Jan. 14: Michigan State
Jan. 17 or 18: at Northwestern
Jan. 21: Indiana
Jan. 24: Nebraska
Jan. 29: at Illinois
Feb. 4: Ohio State
Feb. 7: at Indiana
Feb. 10: Rutgers
Feb. 13: at Michigan State
Feb. 18: at Wisconsin
Feb. 21: Penn State
Feb. 28: at Ohio State
March 4: at Michigan
March 7: Wisconsin
March 10-14: Big Ten tournament in Chicago
Comments: (319) 368-8840; mike.hlas@thegazette.com