The Iowa State Cyclones men’s basketball team has a lot of talent to replace from their 2025-26 season.
It will be interesting to see how the five transfers, Jaquan Johnson, Ryan Prather Jr., Leon Bond III, Tre Singleton and Taj Manning do in replacing Tamin Lipsey, Nate Heise, Milan Momcilovic and Joshua Jefferson in the rotation.
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Iowa State also has three incoming freshmen in the Class of 2026 who can chip in: Yusef Gray Jr., Christian Wiggins and Dorian Rinaldo-Komlan.
This roster may not have as much star power as the 2025-26 group, but this is a deep and talented squad T.J. Otzelberger has assembled. They are also catching a bit of a break when it comes to their Big 12 schedule.
Iowa State 2026-27 opponent matrix revealed
Mar 20, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger addresses the media after a first round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament against the Tennessee State Tigers at Enterprise Center. | Jeff Le-Imagn Images
The opponent matrix has been revealed, with the Cyclones learning which conference foes they will have a home-and-home against, which they will welcome to Hilton Coliseum for a singular matchup and which teams they will have to travel to face.
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This past season, Iowa State had home-and-home matchups with the Baylor Bears, Kansas Jayhawks and Oklahoma State Cowboys. This upcoming campaign, they will repeat Kansas and Oklahoma State in home-and-home sets and will be adding the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Going on the road to face the Jayhawks has been a tough task for the Cyclones, but getting to face two teams that finished .500 or worse during Big 12 play this past season is certainly a fortunate break, especially because they aren’t projected to be more than middle-of-the-pack teams.
As for the home-only matchups, Iowa State has some good luck again. They won’t have to visit Tucson or Provo during the 2026-27 season, with the Arizona Wildcats and BYU Cougars both set to come to Ames.
They also get to host the Cincinnati Bearcats, who defeated the Cyclones at Fifth Third Arena last season. The TCU Horned Frogs are another team that Otzelberger’s squad lost to on the road that will be welcomed to Hilton Coliseum with revenge on their minds.
Rounding out the home conference schedule will be the Kansas State Wildcats and Utah Utes.
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For their road trips, visits to the Houston Cougars and Texas Tech Red Raiders present massive challenges. The Red Raiders were the only visiting team to win at Hilton Coliseum during the 2025-26 campaign.
The Cyclones will also be on the road to face the Arizona State Sun Devils, Baylor Bears, UCF Knights and Colorado Buffaloes.
18 Big 12 games are on deck for the 2026-27 campaign, with plenty of intriguing matchups in one of the best conferences in the nation.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/iowa-state as Iowa State Basketball Big 12 Opponent Matrix Revealed.
