The Big 12 men’s basketball schedule is officially here and we’ve finally got the dates for some of Iowa State’s biggest games of the season. Let’s dive into the highlights of Friday’s schedule release.
*** The Big 12 season will open with the Baylor Bears traveling to Ames on Dec. 31. The Bears are a preseason top-10 team with returning starters Adam Flagler, LJ Cryer and Flo Thamba anchoring the projected starting five. They also welcome West Virginia transfer Jalen Bridges, BYU transfer Caleb Lohner and true freshman Keyonte George, a top-10 player in the 2022 recruiting class, during the offseason.
*** Iowa State’s highly-anticipated home match-up with Texas will take place on Jan. 17 at Hilton Coliseum and will be broadcasted on ESPN+. Expect an electric atmosphere for this one with former Cyclone point guard Tyrese Hunter making his return to Ames.
*** The Cyclones could make their return to ESPN’s Big Monday when they travel to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech on Jan. 30. The game is already scheduled for 8 p.m. and will be on ESPN or ESPN2. Iowa State did not play on Big Monday at all last season.
*** Kansas will visit Hilton Coliseum for an 11 a.m. tip on Feb. 4. That game will take place six years to the day after Iowa State’s thrilling comeback win at Allen Fieldhouse in 2017. The Cyclones visit Lawrence on Jan. 14.
*** Preseason top-20 team and potential Big 12 title contender TCU will visit Hilton Coliseum on Feb. 15. The Frogs are expected to have Jamie Dixon’s best team yet with nearly all of their contributors from last season returning, including All-Big 12 point guard Mike Miles, Damion Baugh, Chuck O’Bannon Jr., Emmanuel Miller and interior force Eddie Lampkin.
*** Iowa State will visit Texas on Feb. 21. The Longhorns will be playing their first season in the brand-new 15,000-seat Moody Center on the UT campus.
*** Iowa State will wrap-up its 2022-23 Big 12 men’s basketball schedule the same way it started, by visiting Baylor on March 4 in Waco.
