an opportunity to opt out of the remainder of the contract if they reached 22 required games by the conference,” Iowa athletics director Gary Barta said in a release. “The addition of two conference games is good for our fans, the Big Ten Conference and our strength of schedule, but unfortunately it created some scheduling challenges that impacts this event.”

The 2018-19 season will mark the Big Ten’s first with 20 conference games. The Big Ten is also paired up with the Big East for the Gavitt Tipoff Games — which was introduced in 2015 — and the ACC for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Cy-Hawk series between Iowa and Iowa State is also under contract.

The Hy-Vee Classic was created as an alternative after Iowa and Iowa State endedtheir annually alternating home-and-homes with Drake and UNI. But the event, which was held at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, never really gained the anticipated traction.

For decades, the unique setup of mid-majors hosting Power Five schools created buzz throughout the state. In even-numbered years, Iowa visited Drake and Iowa State traveled to UNI. In odd-numbered years, the Hawkeyes headed to Cedar Falls and Drake hosted the Cyclones. Iowa’s basketball fans yearned for those matchups.

That vibe never translated to the Hy-Vee Classic once Iowa and Iowa State opted to discontinue the home-and-homes.

Attendance in 2017 for Iowa’s win over Drake and Iowa State’s victory over Northern Iowa was 13,828 — it was the first time attendance had dipped below 15,000 since 14,512 filed into Wells Fargo Arena in 2013.