NEW ORLEANS (JMU Athletics) – The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) and the Mid-American Conference (MAC) announced the first matchups for the 2024-25 MAC-SBC Challenge in a joint release Thursday afternoon, which will take place on Monday, Nov. 4.

The James Madison men’s basketball team, coming off a 32-4 season and a trip to the NCAA Second Round, will host Ohio, while the women’s team will travel to Kent, Ohio, to take on Kent State.

The MAC-SBC Challenge is a scheduling alliance in the sports of men’s and women’s basketball that will kick off during the opening week of the 2024-25 season with 12 SBC men’s basketball programs hosting 12 MAC teams and the 12 Mid-American Conference women’s basketball teams traveling to 12 Sun Belt programs.

The matchup between JMU and Ohio will mark the first matchup between the two programs. The Bobcats finished the 2023-24 season with a 20-13 (13-5 MAC) record which included an 88-70 win over Troy and a 100-87 loss to Arkansas State in the MAC-SBC Challenge. Ohio lost in the semifinals of its conference tournament, falling to the No. 2 seeded Akron Zips.

Head Coach Sean O’Regan and the women’s basketball team will travel to Kent State in what will be just the second meeting between the two programs. The Dukes came away with a 55-48 neutral-site win over the Golden Flashes on Nov. 30, 1996.

The second MAC-SBC Challenge matchup for each team will occur on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, with the matchups set based on real-time NET rankings and announced in January. The MAC men and Sun Belt women will host the February matchups.

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

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

— JMU Athletics —