hanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The West Virginia University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has announced the 2026-27 men’s basketball nonconference schedule.
The nonconference slate is highlighted by the possibility of 50% of the non-league games coming against Power 4 teams and eight regular season games plus an exhibition contest at Hope Coliseum.
West Virginia will open the regular season at home on Monday, Nov. 2 against Niagara. The two teams have met six times in school history beginning in 1918. The last meeting took place in Buffalo in 1952 and this will be the first meeting in Morgantown.
The three-game opening homestand will continue Friday, Nov. 6 against Stetson. It will be the fourth meeting in the series and first at Hope Coliseum since 2015.
On Thursday, Nov. 12 in Morgantown, WVU and Mercer will meet for the first time in school history.
The Players Era 8 will tip off on Tuesday, Nov. 17 in Las Vegas with the Mountaineers facing Auburn in the opening round. WVU will then play Kansas or UNLV in game two and round out the tournament on Thursday, Nov. 19 against either Houston, Rutgers, Florida or Notre Dame.
West Virginia will close November against North Carolina in the Dick Vitale Invitational in Charlotte on Friday, Nov. 27. The two teams will meet for the first time in 61 years with WVU leading the series 5-0.
The Mountaineers will return home on Tuesday, Dec. 1 to face Mercyhurst for the third year in a row.
West Virginia and Virginia Tech will begin a three-game series on Saturday, Dec. 5, starting at Hope Coliseum. The game will be the 80th meeting between the two schools with WVU leading the all-time series that began in 1921, 49-30.
The 193rd meeting between West Virginia and Pitt will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 9 as part of the Hope Gas Backyard Basketball Classic at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. The Mountaineers have won seven of the last nine meetings in the series and WVU leads all-time 102-90.
The Mountaineers will close nonconference play with three of their last four games at home, starting with Coppin State on Sunday, Dec. 13. Another first-time opponent appears on the schedule with Northern Arizona and WVU meeting at Hope Coliseum on Wednesday, Dec. 16.
On Saturday, Dec. 19, West Virginia and Wake Forest will meet for the second year in a row in the Holiday Hoopfest. This year’s meeting will take place in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Mountaineers will wrap up nonconference play on Monday, Dec. 21 against South Carolina State at Hope Coliseum. The Bulldogs are coached by former longtime WVU assistant coach Erik Martin.
West Virginia will play three exhibition games this season due to revised NCAA rules. West Virginia will travel to Maryland on Sunday, Oct. 18 and play at Glenville State on Friday, Oct. 23. For the second year in a row, WVU will play host to Wheeling on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at Hope Coliseum.
The Big 12 schedule will be announced in the coming weeks. WVU will have home games against Arizona, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU and UCF.
Press Release Credit: Bryan Messerly- WVU Athletics
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
