HARRISONBURG, Va. – Trips to Michigan State and Cancun, an 18-game Sun Belt Conference slate and the first ever MAC-SBC Challenge highlight the 2023-24 James Madison men’s basketball schedule, as announced by Head Coach Mark Byington on Wednesday morning.
The Dukes will open their season in East Lansing on Monday, Nov. 6, with a matchup at traditional power Michigan State, which fell in the Sweet 16 this past season, before travelling to Kent State on Nov. 9 for the first leg of the inaugural MAC-SBC Challenge.
The second MAC-SBC Challenge matchup will be back in Harrisonburg on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, with the matchups set based on real-time NET rankings and announced in January.
JMU will open the Cancun Challenge at home on Nov. 17 with in-state foe Radford before heading to the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya for the final two games of the event.
After facing Southern Illinois at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 21, JMU will face either Fresno State or New Mexico the following evening to close out the week. Both contests will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network.
The Dukes will also face Howard (Nov. 12), Buffalo (Nov. 29), Keystone College (Dec. 3) and Coppin State (Dec. 19) at home during the non-conference slate, while travelling to Old Dominion (Dec. 9), Hampton (Dec. 16) and Morgan State (Dec. 22).
JMU will welcome Texas State to the Atlantic Union Bank Center for the second consecutive year to open SBC play on Saturday, Dec. 30. South Alabama (Jan. 11) and ULM (Jan. 18) will travel to Harrisonburg for matchups in the new year – the Dukes cruised past ULM in a 58-45 win last season, but dropped a pair of matchups to South Alabama.
This year’s matchup with the Jaguars will mark their first trip to Harrisonburg since Dec. 14, 1991.
After opening with Texas State at home, JMU immediately faces a difficult road swing at defending SBC Tournament champion Louisiana (Jan. 4) and defending regular season champion Southern Miss (Jan. 6). The Dukes will also travel to Arkansas State on Feb. 7 for their first bout against the Red Wolves since Dec. 20, 1994.
The Sun Belt schedule will also see JMU play its traditional home-and-home matchups against Old Dominion, Marshall, App State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State and Coastal Carolina.
The Dukes’ complete schedule can be found at JMUSports.com. Game times will be announced at a later date.
— JMU Athletics —
