Rockets Will Visit James Madison as Part of MAC-SBC Challenge on Nov. 8
6/22/2023 11:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Toledo will host to-be-determined Sun Belt opponent in February
TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's basketball team will visit non-conference foe James Madison as a part of the MAC-SBC Challenge on Wednesday, Nov. 8, per an announcement from the Mid-American Conference.
The MAC-SBC Challenge is a scheduling alliance of the men's and women's basketball programs in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and Sun Belt Conference (SBC). The first meeting of the programs will take place in the first week of November. The 12 MAC men's basketball programs will host 12 SBC schools, while the 12 MAC women's basketball programs will visit their 12 SBC counterparts.
The second MAC-SBC Challenge contest for each team will take place on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, with the matchups based on real-time NET rankings and announced in January. The MAC women and Sun Belt men will host the February matchups.
The Rockets' 2022-23 season was one of the most successful in school history. They won their 11th MAC Regular Season Championship and captured their ninth MAC Tournament title, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017. Toledo also won its first NCAA Tournament game since 1996, taking down No. 5 seed Iowa State in the first round on March 18. The win was the 17th in a row for UT, which set a new school record for longest winning streak in school history.
James Madison posted a 26-8 record last year, the most wins in a season since 2018-19, and won the program's first conference tournament title in seven years. JMU, in its second season in the Sun Belt conference after joining in 2021, walloped Texas State, 81-51, in the championship game. The Dukes were a No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament and fell to No. 3 Ohio State, 80-66, in the first round.
This will mark the first-ever meeting between Toledo and James Madison.
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 are considered in determining the matchups. Each MAC-SBC Challenge game will be carried on an ESPN platform.
Toledo's entire non-conference schedule will be released at a later date.
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 at ULM
Sunday, Nov. 12
Kent State at Louisiana
