NEW ORLEANS (JMU Athletics) – The Mid-American Conference (MAC) and Sun Belt Conference (SBC) have finalized the matchups for the second and final MAC-SBC Challenge game of the 2024-25 season, which will see James Madison men’s basketball trek to Toledo on Feb. 8, while the women’s program will host Ball State for a Feb. 8 meeting, as announced by the leagues on Monday afternoon.

Ordinal Sports Group will continue to aid in scheduling, using NET data along with geographic and historical matchup frequency to guide the pairings.

The games will feature 12 Sun Belt Conference (SBC) men’s basketball programs visiting 12 Mid-American Conference (MAC) teams and 12 SBC women’s basketball teams hosting 12 MAC programs based on current NET rankings.

The men’s basketball team will travel to Toledo to play the Rockets in the first matchup between the two schools. The Rockets sit at 9-6 and 3-0 in MAC games this season, which included an 84-74 loss to Troy on Nov. 4 in the first leg of the MAC-SBC Challenge. Last season, Toledo went 20-12 (14-4 MAC) but fell to No. 8 seed Kent State in the First Round of the MAC Tournament.

Head Coach Sean O’Regan and the women’s basketball team will face Ball State (12-4, 4-0 MAC) for the second time year in a row. The Cardinals are coming off a 28-6 season in 2023 with a 16-2 mark in league play, earning a spot in the inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament. In last year’s meeting at BSU, the Cardinals outscored JMU 27-11 in the first quarter in a wire-to-wire win, 72-57, inside Worthen Arena on Feb. 11.

The women’s program is 8-4 (.667) all time versus the Mid-American Conference and has perfect marks against Eastern Michigan (2-0), Kent State (2-0), Ohio (2-0) and Western Michigan (2-0).

The conferences announced an extension of their MAC-SBC Challenge through the 2026-27 season. The Challenge will see the 13 basketball teams from each conference face off twice per season beginning with the 2025-26 season when UMass joins the MAC. Every matchup will be broadcast on an ESPN network.

Below are the February 2025 MAC-SBC Challenge dates future dates.

MAC-SBC Challenge Men’s Basketball Matchups
App State at Ohio
Arkansas State at Kent State
Coastal Carolina at Bowling Green
Georgia Southern at Western Michigan
Georgia State at Buffalo
James Madison at Toledo
Louisiana at North Illinois
Old Dominion at Eastern Michigan
South Alabama at Akron
Southern Miss at Ball State
Texas State at Central Michigan
Troy at Miami (Ohio)

MAC-SBC Challenge Women’s Basketball Matchups
Northern Illinois at App State
Bowling Green at Arkansas State
Buffalo at Coastal Carolina
Akron at Georgia Southern
Eastern Michigan at Georgia State
Ball State at James Madison
Miami (Ohio) at Louisiana
Central Michigan at Old Dominion
Toledo at Marshall
Ohio at Southern Miss
Western Michigan at Texas State
Kent State at Troy

— JMU Athletics —