A New Era of Collaboration
The Mid-American Conference (MAC) and Sun Belt Conference (SBC) have unveiled the first set of matchups for the 2026‑27 MAC‑SBC Challenge, a new scheduling alliance that will link 13 MAC teams with 12 Sun Belt programs during the opening week of the season.
Among the highlighted games, James Madison University’s men’s and women’s basketball squads will travel to face Miami (Ohio) on Monday, November 2, 2026. For the men’s team it will be the first home meeting with the RedHawks since 2011, while the women’s team will meet Miami for the first time in program history.
Historical context adds intrigue: JMU holds a 1‑1 record against Miami (Ohio), having split two meetings in the 2010‑11 season and a 76‑58 loss on November 24, 2012, in Oxford, Ohio. The last encounter in Harrisonburg resulted in a 70‑69 victory for JMU.
Miami (Ohio) arrives on the back of a historic 2025‑26 campaign under head coach Travis Steele, who guided the RedHawks to a perfect 31‑0 regular‑season record and an at‑large berth in the 2026 Division I men’s basketball championship.
On the women’s side, both JMU and Miami (Ohio) went 2‑0 in the previous year’s MAC‑SBC Challenge and each reached the first‑round site in Morgantown, West Virginia, for the 2026 Women’s Basketball Championship.
The alliance, recommended by strategic planning committees from the Sun Belt, will see 12 SBC women’s programs travel to face 13 MAC opponents, while 12 MAC men’s teams will visit Sun Belt venues. Scheduling support is being provided by Ordinal Sports Group.
Fans can expect a week of high‑stakes non‑conference play that underscores a growing collaboration between the two conferences, setting the tone for the remainder of the 2026‑27 season.