NDSU head men’s basketball coach Saul Phillips announced the team’s 28-game regular-season schedule on Aug. 17. It includes non-conference road games with three new Division I opponents and a nationally televised game at Iowa State University in January.
The Bison and Iowa State University Cyclones will play on Saturday, Jan. 9, at 3 p.m. on ESPNU. To accommodate the TV game, NDSU moved its originally scheduled Summit League game at University of Missouri – Kansas City to Tuesday, Jan. 26. It will be the first of a three-game road trip that continues Jan. 28 at Oral Roberts and Jan. 30 at Centenary.
"Our nationally televised game gives us a chance to showcase our program in homes across America versus one of college basketball’s best players in Craig Brackins," Phillips said. Brackins won a bronze medal with Team USA at the World University Games this summer.
NDSU will play 14 home games beginning Nov. 18 against future NCAA Division II member Minot State University and Nov. 21 against Western Athletic Conference member University of Idaho. The Bison also play host to Horizon League members University of Wisconsin-Green Bay on Nov. 27 and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Dec. 12.
"We’ve accomplished a lot with this schedule," Phillips said. "Our fans will have a chance to see us at the Bison Sports Arena against three successful Division I programs before our challenging Summit League home schedule."
First-time Division I opponents include familiar football rival University of California Davis on Nov. 24, Fresno State on Dec. 19 and Wichita State on Dec. 21. NDSU lost its only previous meetings with Fresno State University in 1983-84 and Wichita State University in 1978-79.
NDSU opens the regular season Nov. 13 at Utah Valley University, which completed its NCAA reclassification and is a fully eligible Division I member in the Great West Conference. Home exhibition games are scheduled for Nov. 4 against Minnesota State University Moorhead and Nov. 7 against Concordia College of Moorhead.
The regular season ends Feb. 25-27 at home against Summit League teams Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis and Western Illinois University, and the top eight teams in the league advance to the Summit League tournament March 6-9 at Sioux Falls Arena in Sioux Falls, S.D.
NDSU returns one starter from last year’s 26-7 team that went 16-2 in The Summit League, won the league tournament, and advanced to the first NCAA Division I tournament in school history. Forward Michael Tveidt is the top returning scorer and rebounder after averaging 9.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game as a sophomore.