University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Lady Eagles Set to Play Akron in Inaugural Game of MAC-SBC Challenge
6/22/2023 10:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
NEW ORLEANS — The MAC-SBC Challenge—a scheduling alliance in the sports of men's and women's basketball—will kick off during the opening week of the 2023-24 season this November with 12 Sun Belt Conference (SBC) men's basketball programs traveling to compete against the 12 Mid-American Conference (MAC) teams and the 12 MAC women's basketball teams visiting 12 SBC programs.
Southern Miss women's basketball drew Akron as its respective matchup in part one of the scheduling alliance. The matchup will be the first between the two programs and just the Lady Eagles' third game against a MAC program.
The Lady Eagles are 2-0 all-time against MAC teams, beating Ohio in the 1984 Tennessee Tech Classic and Eastern Michigan as part of the 2015 WNIT at Reed Green Coliseum. Consequently, the Lady Eagles are 1-0 against the conference under Joye Lee-McNelis.
The Zips finished 2022-23 with a 17-13 (8-10 MAC) record, concluding their season against Ball State in the first round of the conference tournament. Akron finished the year with a NET rating of 187.
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 each season.
Scheduling assistance is provided by Ordinal Sports Group. In addition to relevant NET data, geography and frequency of past contests is considered in determining the matchups.
The MAC-SBC Challenge comes at the recommendation of the Sun Belt's strategic planning committees for men's and women's basketball, as the conference looks to return to its roots and bolster its success on the hardwood.
Key matchups in the men's edition of the MAC-SBC Challenge include James Madison at MAC tournament champion Kent State on Nov. 9, Sun Belt tournament champion Louisiana at MAC regular-season champion Toledo on Nov. 11 and Sun Belt regular-season champion Southern Miss at Akron on Nov. 11.
On the women's side, MAC regular-season and tournament champion Toledo at Sun Belt regular-season co-champion and tournament champion James Madison on Nov. 8, MAC regular-season and tournament runner-up Bowling Green at Sun Belt regular-season co-champion Texas State on Nov. 11 and Akron at Sun Belt regular-season co-champion Southern Miss on Nov. 11 are the headliners.
Each MAC-SBC Challenge game will be carried on an ESPN platform.
MAC-SBC Challenge Women's Basketball Matchups
Wednesday, Nov. 8
Toledo at James Madison
Thursday, Nov. 9
Northern Illinois at Arkansas State
Central Michigan at South Alabama
Friday, Nov. 10
Western Michigan at Georgia State
Saturday, Nov. 11
Ball State at Troy
Eastern Michigan at Georgia Southern
Akron at Southern Miss
Buffalo at Old Dominion
Bowling Green at Texas State
Ohio at App State
Miami (OH) at ULM
Sunday, Nov. 12
Kent State at Louisiana
MAC-SBC Challenge Men's Basketball Matchups
Wednesday, Nov. 8
Troy at Ohio
Thursday, Nov. 9
James Madison at Kent State
Saturday, Nov. 11
Southern Miss at Akron
Louisiana at Toledo
Old Dominion at Ball State
South Alabama at Buffalo
Arkansas State at Bowling Green
App State at Northern Illinois
Texas State at Miami (OH)
Georgia Southern at Eastern Michigan
Georgia State at Western Michigan
ULM at Central Michigan
Southern Miss women's basketball drew Akron as its respective matchup in part one of the scheduling alliance. The matchup will be the first between the two programs and just the Lady Eagles' third game against a MAC program.
The Lady Eagles are 2-0 all-time against MAC teams, beating Ohio in the 1984 Tennessee Tech Classic and Eastern Michigan as part of the 2015 WNIT at Reed Green Coliseum. Consequently, the Lady Eagles are 1-0 against the conference under Joye Lee-McNelis.
The Zips finished 2022-23 with a 17-13 (8-10 MAC) record, concluding their season against Ball State in the first round of the conference tournament. Akron finished the year with a NET rating of 187.
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 each season.
Scheduling assistance is provided by Ordinal Sports Group. In addition to relevant NET data, geography and frequency of past contests is considered in determining the matchups.
The MAC-SBC Challenge comes at the recommendation of the Sun Belt's strategic planning committees for men's and women's basketball, as the conference looks to return to its roots and bolster its success on the hardwood.
Key matchups in the men's edition of the MAC-SBC Challenge include James Madison at MAC tournament champion Kent State on Nov. 9, Sun Belt tournament champion Louisiana at MAC regular-season champion Toledo on Nov. 11 and Sun Belt regular-season champion Southern Miss at Akron on Nov. 11.
On the women's side, MAC regular-season and tournament champion Toledo at Sun Belt regular-season co-champion and tournament champion James Madison on Nov. 8, MAC regular-season and tournament runner-up Bowling Green at Sun Belt regular-season co-champion Texas State on Nov. 11 and Akron at Sun Belt regular-season co-champion Southern Miss on Nov. 11 are the headliners.
Each MAC-SBC Challenge game will be carried on an ESPN platform.
MAC-SBC Challenge Women's Basketball Matchups
Wednesday, Nov. 8
Toledo at James Madison
Thursday, Nov. 9
Northern Illinois at Arkansas State
Central Michigan at South Alabama
Friday, Nov. 10
Western Michigan at Georgia State
Saturday, Nov. 11
Ball State at Troy
Eastern Michigan at Georgia Southern
Akron at Southern Miss
Buffalo at Old Dominion
Bowling Green at Texas State
Ohio at App State
Miami (OH) at ULM
Sunday, Nov. 12
Kent State at Louisiana
MAC-SBC Challenge Men's Basketball Matchups
Wednesday, Nov. 8
Troy at Ohio
Thursday, Nov. 9
James Madison at Kent State
Saturday, Nov. 11
Southern Miss at Akron
Louisiana at Toledo
Old Dominion at Ball State
South Alabama at Buffalo
Arkansas State at Bowling Green
App State at Northern Illinois
Texas State at Miami (OH)
Georgia Southern at Eastern Michigan
Georgia State at Western Michigan
ULM at Central Michigan
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