NORFOLK, Va. - Pairings for round one of the MAC-SBC Basketball Challenge—a scheduling alliance between the Mid-American and Sun Belt Conferences – were announced on Thursday for both basketball programs. This year’s first round will be the season openers on November 4.
The men’s basketball team will kick off the Mike Jones era inside Chartway Arena and will see the Monarchs tangle with the Buffalo Bulls. DeLisha Milton-Jones will have her women’s team heading to Ball State for a matchup with the Cardinals.
“We are excited about game one and are looking forward to having Chartway Arena full for the opener,” said ODU head men’s basketball coach Mike Jones.
"The MAC Challenge is a great thing for both conferences to be joined in. We've enjoyed playing in the Challenge because they have presented a different level of competitiveness for our players to experience. Ball State will be yet another tough game that we look forward to playing. They have a tremendous program with a rich history of winning and we look forward to the challenge of traveling to Indiana to face them,” added ODU head women’s basketball coach DeLisha Milton-Jones.
Last year, the women scored wins over Buffalo (59-48) and Kent State (82-76) and the men dropped decisions to Ball State (73-68) and Central Michigan (58-57).
The Sun Belt captured the inaugural MAC-SBC Challenge titles on the men’s and women’s sides, respectively, in 2023-24. The men’s teams compiled 15 wins across the 24 total matchups, including 10 in the February 2024 home contests, while the women’s teams posted 14 wins in the 24 contests, including nine during the November 2023 tilts.
Buffalo’s men’s team was 4-27 last year and 2-16 in the MAC Conference. In the final NET rankings, ODU was 293rd and Buffalo was 345th. The Bulls dropped their first-round MAC-SBC game to South Alabama 70-56, but came away with an 82-81 overtime victory at Georgia Southern in the second round.
On the women’s side, Ball State fell in the opening round of the WBIT and finished its 2023-4 campaign 28-6 overall with a 16-2 mark against MAC opponents. The Cardinals were listed 81st in the final NET rankings while the Monarchs landed at 124th. Ball State won 86-71 at Troy in the opening round of last year’s MAC-SBC Challenge and defeated James Madison 72-57 in the second round.
The second MAC-SBC Challenge contest for each team will take place on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, with the matchups set based on real-time NET rankings and announced in January. Old Dominion women will host a MAC school that day, while the men will travel to one.
Each MAC and Sun Belt team included in the MAC-SBC Challenge is guaranteed one home and one away game each season and all MAC-SBC challenge games will be carried on an ESPN platform.
MAC-SBC Challenge Men’s Basketball Matchups
Miami (Ohio) at App State
Akron at Arkansas State
Western Michigan at Coastal Carolina
Northern Illinois at Georgia Southern
Ball State at Georgia State
Ohio at James Madison
Kent State at Louisiana
Buffalo at Old Dominion
Central Michigan at South Alabama
Bowling Green at Southern Miss
Eastern Michigan at Texas State
Toledo at Troy
MAC-SBC Challenge Women’s Basketball Matchups
App State at Miami (Ohio)
Arkansas State at Western Michigan
Coastal Carolina at Central Michigan
Georgia Southern at Ohio
Georgia State at Akron
James Madison at Kent State
Louisiana at Northern Illinois
Marshall at Toledo
Old Dominion at Ball State
Southern Miss at Bowling Green
Texas State at Eastern Michigan
Troy at Buffalo