SoCon Announces 2026-27 Men's Basketball League Schedule

Photo courtesy SOCON

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — The Southern Conference announced its 2026-27 men's basketball league schedule, presented by Ingles, on Tuesday. All 11 SoCon teams will play double round-robin, 20-game intraleague schedules, totaling 110 league contests over 11 weeks from Dec. 1 through Feb. 27.

Conference play opens Dec. 1, when UNCG visits VMI. The game will mark UNCG new coach Jerod Haase's first SoCon matchup; Haase brings more than 25 years of coaching experience to Greensboro, including previous head coaching stints at UAB and Stanford.

The first full slate of Saturday games follows Dec. 5, highlighted by Tennessee Tech hosting Samford in the Golden Eagles' league opener under new head coach Tobin Anderson. Anderson previously led Iona and Fairleigh Dickinson, where he orchestrated one of the most memorable moments in NCAA Tournament history in 2023, guiding 16th-seeded FDU to an opening-round upset of top-seeded Purdue.

Chattanooga will be the last team to begin conference play, hosting Mercer on Dec. 19.

One of the season's early marquee matchups comes Dec. 22, when Furman travels to ETSU in a rematch of last season's SoCon tournament championship game. Furman won the tournament title, while ETSU claimed the regular-season crown.

The 2027 Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championship will be held March 5-8 at Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina.

All 11 schools' home games will stream on ESPN+ when not selected for national or regional broadcast, with full broadcast schedules to be announced later.

The 106th season of Southern Conference basketball begins with nonconference play Nov. 2. The full composite schedule will be posted once finalized at SoConSports.com.

2026-27 SoCon Men's Basketball Schedule

Dec. 1 (Tuesday)
UNCG at VMI

Dec. 5 (Saturday)
The Citadel at Western Carolina | ETSU at VMI | Furman at UNCG | Wofford at Mercer | Samford at Tennessee Tech

Dec. 19 (Saturday)
Tennessee Tech at The Citadel | UNCG at ETSU | Western Carolina at Furman | Mercer at Chattanooga | Wofford at Samford

Dec. 22 (Tuesday)
Furman at ETSU | Mercer at Tennessee Tech | Samford at Chattanooga | Western Carolina at Wofford

Dec. 30 (Wednesday)
The Citadel at UNCG | ETSU at Mercer | Furman at VMI | Chattanooga at Western Carolina | Tennessee Tech at Wofford

Jan. 2 (Saturday)
Chattanooga at The Citadel | ETSU at Samford | Tennessee Tech at Furman | Wofford at UNCG | VMI at Western Carolina

Jan. 6 (Wednesday)
Wofford at The Citadel | Samford at Furman | Western Carolina at Mercer

Jan. 7 (Thursday)
UNCG at Chattanooga | VMI at Tennessee Tech

Jan. 9 (Saturday)
The Citadel at Samford | Western Carolina at ETSU | Mercer at Wofford | UNCG at Tennessee Tech | VMI at Chattanooga

Jan. 13 (Wednesday)
Furman at The Citadel | Tennessee Tech at ETSU | Samford at Mercer | Western Carolina at UNCG | Wofford at VMI

Jan. 16 (Saturday)
The Citadel at VMI | ETSU at UNCG | Mercer at Furman | Samford at Western Carolina | Chattanooga at Wofford

Jan. 18 (Monday)
ETSU at The Citadel | Wofford at Furman | Mercer at Western Carolina | VMI at Samford | Tennessee Tech at Chattanooga

Jan. 20 (Wednesday)
VMI at Mercer

Jan. 21 (Thursday)
The Citadel at Wofford | Chattanooga at ETSU | UNCG at Samford | Western Carolina at Tennessee Tech

Jan. 23 (Saturday)
Samford at The Citadel | ETSU at Wofford | Furman at Tennessee Tech | UNCG at Mercer | Western Carolina at Chattanooga

Jan. 27 (Wednesday)
The Citadel at Furman | Mercer at ETSU | Wofford at Western Carolina

Jan. 28 (Thursday)
Tennessee Tech at UNCG | Chattanooga at VMI

Jan. 30 (Saturday)
The Citadel at Mercer | ETSU at Furman | Chattanooga at UNCG | Samford at Wofford | Tennessee Tech at VMI

Feb. 3 (Wednesday)
UNCG at The Citadel | ETSU at Chattanooga | Furman at Samford | Tennessee Tech at Western Carolina | VMI at Wofford

Feb. 6 (Saturday)
The Citadel at Tennessee Tech | VMI at ETSU | Furman at Mercer | Western Carolina at Samford | Wofford at Chattanooga

Feb. 10 (Wednesday)
Western Carolina at The Citadel | ETSU at Tennessee Tech | Chattanooga at Furman

Feb. 11 (Thursday)
Mercer at VMI | Samford at UNCG

Feb. 13 (Saturday)
The Citadel at Chattanooga | Wofford at ETSU | Furman at Western Carolina | Mercer at UNCG | Samford at VMI

Feb. 18 (Thursday)
ETSU at Western Carolina | VMI at Furman | Tennessee Tech at Mercer | UNCG at Wofford | Chattanooga at Samford

Feb. 20 (Saturday)
VMI at The Citadel | Furman at Wofford | Chattanooga at Mercer | UNCG at Western Carolina | Tennessee Tech at Samford

Feb. 24 (Wednesday)
The Citadel at ETSU | Furman at Chattanooga | Mercer at Samford | VMI at UNCG | Wofford at Tennessee Tech

Feb. 27 (Saturday)
Mercer at The Citadel | Samford at ETSU | UNCG at Furman | Chattanooga at Tennessee Tech | Western Carolina at VMI