Sun Belt announces MAC Challenge

The initial matchups for the MAC-SBC Challenge were released by the conference office Thursday. The Texas State women's basketball team will host Bowling Green while the men's team is making the trip to take on Miami (OH). Both contests will take place on Nov. 11.

The women's game against Bowling Green will be a matchup of two programs that competed in the Women's NIT.

The Falcons are coming off a runner-up finish in the MAC regular season and tournament on the way to a 31-7 record. They also advanced to the WNIT semifinals with their run including wins over Florida and Memphis.

A 12-20 record and eighth place finish in the MAC was posted by the RedHawks last season. They were one of the best free throw shooting teams in the nation, finishing seventh at 78.7%.

Both Bobcat teams will be facing their respective opponents for the firsttime ever. It will be just the third game against a MAC program for the women while the men will be making their first-ever trip to the state of Ohio.

The second MAC-SBC Challenge contest for each team will take place on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, with the matchups set based on real-time NET rankings and announced in January. The MAC women and Sun Belt men will host the February matchups.

Each MAC and Sun Belt team included in the MAC-SBC Challenge, currently scheduled to take place during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns, is guaranteed one home and one away game. Every game will also be carried on an ESPN platform.