MAC & Sun Belt agree to two-year extension of Basketball Challenge Series
The 48-game scheduling agreement, first started in 2023, will get an additional two seasons.
The Mid-American Conference and Sun Belt Conference announced a two-year extension of the MAC-SBC Basketball Challenge Series on Wednesday afternoon.
“The MAC-SBC Challenge has proven to be a tremendous opportunity for our men’s and women’s basketball programs to compete against quality opponents while providing meaningful exposure,” MAC Commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher said via press release. “We are pleased to extend this partnership with the Sun Belt Conference through the 2028-29 season and look forward to continuing a series that benefits our student-athletes, institutions and fans through highly competitive, nationally visible matchups.”
The series, which started in 2023 as a way to enhance each conference's league's non-conference strength-of-schedule, will get an additional two seasons, with the new series to play until the 2028-29 season.
As part of the arrangement, all 12 men's and women's basketball teams from both conferences will be scheduled to play against one another in a home-and-home series, with NET rankings, geographic proximity and matchup frequency determining the matchups.
The 2026-27 edition of the challenge will kick off on Nov. 2, 2026, with the Sun Belt men’s teams hosting MAC counterparts, while MAC women’s teams will do the same with their Sun Belt counterparts.
The second round will rotate, with the Sun Belt's women's teams hosting MAC programs and MAC men's teams hosting Sun Belt opponents. The second round is currently scheduled for February 6th, 2027.
The Sun Belt holds the lead over the MAC in the men's challenge, with a 2-0-1 record, while the women's side has both conferences tied at 1-1-1.
