Griz, Lady Griz Basketball Already Have Four 2024 Games Scheduled

An alliance with another conference has helped ease the headache of scheduling non-conference basketball games.

Yep, we don't even have the start times set for the 2023 University of Montana Grizzly football schedule, and here we are looking ahead to the basketball seasons. And the newly formed "Big Sky - Summit Challenge" did make it just a bit easier to sneak a peek.

Recently, the Big Sky Conference reached an agreement with the Summit Conference to match two men's and two women's teams each season on a rotating basis. Jackson Wagner in the UM Sports Information Department tells us that those pairings for the inaugural Challenge season were announced today (Friday). For Montana's teams, three of the games will be with, at least slightly, familiar opponents. Only one game will be a first-time meeting.

The Montana men will start on the road with a repeat trip from last season. They will face off against North Dakota State in Fargo on Wednesday, January 3. The the guys will return home to Missoula for a matchup with South Dakota on January 6.

It will be the sixth-ever meeting between the Grizzlies and the South Dakota Coyotes. The North Dakota State Bison are a more familiar opponent. This will be the 12^th overall meeting between the two teams.

Image courtesy of U of Montana Sports Information

The Lady Griz will host South Dakota on Wednesday, January 3, then make their way to Omaha, Nebraska, for a road game against the Omaha Mavericks on Saturday, January 6.

It will be the first-ever meeting between Montana and Omaha. Montana and South Dakota have met three times previously, all since 2018.