The Mid-American Conference and Sun Belt Conference announced on Thursday the first round of matchups in the MAC-SBC Challenge for the 2024-25 season.

This season’s Challenge will tip off on Monday, Nov. 4 with the 12 MAC women’s basketball programs hosting 12 Sun Belt teams and the 12 MAC men’s basketball teams traveling to their 12 SBC counterparts.

The NIU women’s basketball program will host the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns at the NIU Convocation Center on Nov. 4. It will be the first meeting between the Huskies and Ragin’ Cajuns on the hardwood. NIU went 1-1 in last season’s inaugural MAC-SBC Challenge, defeating Georgia Southern 91-84 at the Convocation Center.

The NIU men’s basketball team will make its first trip to Statesboro, Ga. to take on Georgia Southern. The Huskies and Eagles have played each other twice before. NIU won the first matchup 67-55 on Nov. 28, 1998 at the FIU Thanksgiving Tournament in Miami, Fla. Georgia Southern won the most recent meeting 72-70 at the Drake Classic in Des Moines, Iowa on Dec. 8, 2006. The Huskies split their two MAC-SBC Challenge games last season, defeating Appalachian State in DeKalb 91-78.

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

For basketball season ticket inquiries, contact the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225).