NEW ORLEANS (JMU Athletics) – The Mid-American Conference (MAC) and Sun Belt Conference (SBC) have finalized the opening matchups for the 2026-27 MAC-SBC Challenge, the leagues announced on Thursday, July 2.
Both the JMU men’s and women’s basketball teams will take on Miami (Ohio) on Monday, Nov. 2. The men will host the RedHawks for the first time since 2011, while the women will battle Miami for the first time in program history.
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 2026-27 season with 12 SBC women’s basketball programs traveling to compete against the 12 MAC teams and the 12 Mid-American Conference men’s basketball teams visiting 12 Sun Belt programs.
JMU men’s basketball is 1-1 all-time against Miami (Ohio). The last meeting against the RedHawks took place on Nov. 24, 2012, in Oxford, Ohio, as Miami came away with a 76-58 win. The teams also met in Harrisonburg during the 2010-11 season, with JMU securing a 70-69 victory.
Miami is coming off a historic 2025-26 season under Travis Steele that saw the RedHawks finish the regular season 31-0 and earn an at-large bid to the 2026 Division I Men’s Basketball Championship – the conference’s first at-large bid to the Big Dance since 1998-99.
On the women’s side, both JMU and Miami (Ohio) went 2-0 in the MAC-SBC Challenge a year ago, with the Dukes defeating Kent State (80-48) and Massachusetts (71-57, Feb. 8), while the RedHawks handled Coastal Carolina (63-53, Nov. 3) and Georgia Southern (78-67, Feb. 7). Additionally, JMU and Miami both made their way Morgantown, W. Va. for the First Round of the 2026 Women’s Basketball Championship, where the Dukes fell to the fifth-seeded Kentucky Wildcats (71-56, March 21), while the RedHawks dropped a tilt to West Virginia (82-54, March 21).
About The MAC-SBC Challenge
The MAC-SBC Challenge began during the 2023-24 season at the recommendation of the Sun Belt’s strategic planning committees for men’s and women’s basketball. 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.
MAC-SBC Challenge Men’s Basketball Matchups
Toledo at Arkansas State
Eastern Michigan at Coastal Carolina
Ball State at Georgia Southern
Bowling Green at Georgia State
Miami (Ohio) at James Madison
Akron at Louisiana
Central Michigan at ULM
Kent State at Louisiana Tech
Buffalo at Marshall
Western Michigan at Old Dominion
Ohio at South Alabama
UMass at Troy
MAC-SBC Challenge Women’s Basketball Matchups
App State at Eastern Michigan
Arkansas State at Ball State
Coastal Carolina at Western Michigan
Georgia Southern at Bowling Green
Georgia State at Buffalo
James Madison at Miami (Ohio)
Louisiana Tech at Toledo
ULM at Ohio
Marshall at UMass
Old Dominion at Central Michigan
South Alabama at Akron
Troy at Kent State
— JMU Athletics —
