Over the past few seasons, Jan Jensen has made it a point to schedule tougher non-conference opponents to be better prepared for the Big Ten. Not only is the program doing that next season, but the Big Ten schedule makers didn't do the program any favors either.
Jan Jensen and the program already locked in two extremely tough non-conference games to beef up their resume, and now the Big Ten is making it even tougher on them.
Iowa will face eight NCAA Tournament teams from last season on the road this season
At the end of May, the program announced it was scheduling a home-and-away series with powerhouse UConn, with this year's game happening in Storrs, CT, and next year's back in Iowa City. Iowa suffered a blowout loss to the Huskies in December 2025, but got them back on the schedule for the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 seasons.
The program didn't stop there, adding SEC powerhouse Vanderbilt to the non-conference schedule, securing a matchup against Mikayla Blakes and the Commodores on November 15 in Sioux City, Iowa. After beefing up the non-conference schedule, the program recently learned its Big Ten home-and-away schedule, and it's a doozy.
One step closer to the 2026-27 season 🤝
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) June 8, 2026
Our Big Ten home & away opponents are set. pic.twitter.com/s7AiaPuYSf
Iowa's road schedule features eight NCAA Tournament teams from last season, including Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, and Washington. UCLA won the Big Ten Conference regular season and tournament titles and was crowned as National Champions in a dominating campaign, and luckily, Iowa gets them at home next season.
No games are easy in the Big Ten, especially on the road, and the new-look Hawkeyes will be tested early and often in conference play next season. With a difficult road schedule on the horizon, the Hawkeye newcomers will have to gel with the five returning players very quickly, or it could be a long season.
The pieces are there, but Jensen will have to get her team meshing quickly and deliver one of the best coaching jobs she has ever done to keep the program in contention.
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