By Ian Murphy
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The Iowa men’s basketball team will carry a high degree of success into the 2015-16 season, but in a loaded Big Ten this season, the Hawkeyes will have their fair share of tests.

The Big Ten released the conference’s basketball schedule on Thursday afternoon.

Looking to build on the program’s first NCAA Tournament win in more than a decade, Iowa will open its campaign with a home date with Michigan State Dec. 29, which will be aired on the Big Ten Network.

The Spartans have plagued the Hawkeyes recently; Iowa has lost eight-straight games to the Spartans, dating back to Feb. 2, 2011.

The Hawkeyes will follow with a contest at Purdue Jan. 2, a home game against Nebraska on Jan. 5, and then a rematch with the Spartans in East Lansing on Jan. 14.

Arguably the toughest part of the conference season will come in the Hawkeyes’ last four games, in which they will face a gauntlet of the Big Ten’s toughest squads.

A home date with Wisconsin, a Final Four team, on Feb. 24 and a trip to Ohio State on Feb. 27 or 28 are followed with a home matchup with Indiana on March 1 and a trip to Ann Arbor on March 5 for a duel with Michigan.

However, both Wisconsin and Ohio State lost star players in Frank Kominski and D’Angelo Russell, respectively. The Hawkeyes will be without Aaron White for the first time in four seasons.

Football might not have started, but basketball is right around the corner.

Follow @ianfromiowa for news, updates, and analysis on the Iowa men’s basketball team.