VERMILLION — Road matchups with two NCAA tournament squads from a year ago are among the highlights of the 2025-26 men’s basketball non-conference schedule for the University of South Dakota.
The Coyotes will have nine home games, five road games and a neutral site contest in Rapid City in the non-conference part of the schedule under fourth-year head coach Eric Peterson.
USD opens the season on Nov. 3 hosting Utah Tech at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. Two days later, USD will visit Creighton in Omaha, after the Bluejays had a 25-win season and reached the round of 32 in the NCAAs.
The Coyotes have three home games in a row in November, including hosting Southern Indiana on Nov. 12 and Western Michigan on Nov. 16. That is followed by a road trip to Missouri, which is the highest-ranked team from 2024-25 that USD will face in the non-conference schedule. The Tigers finished 22nd in the NET rankings last season and won 22 games. Thanksgiving week will include a Nov. 24 home game against South Carolina State and facing Air Force at Summit Arena in Rapid City on Saturday, Nov. 29.
The Air Force contest starts a run of four straight games for the Coyotes against Big Sky or Mountain West conference opponents. The Big Sky-Summit League challenge includes a Dec. 3 home game against Portland State and a Dec. 6 contest in Greeley, Colorado against Northern Colorado, followed by USD playing a Dec. 9 game at Wyoming.
The rest of the Division I opponents before the start of Summit League play include hosting Prairie View A&M on Dec. 13 in Vermillion and traveling to the Big 12’s Kansas State on Dec. 20.
The Coyotes will play three non-Division I home games in the non-conference schedule. Ozark Christian College visits on Nov. 9, Dakota State stops by on Dec. 17 and Mount Marty will play at USD on Dec. 28.
The Summit League portions of the schedules are expected to be announced in August.
2025-26 USD men’s basketball non-conference schedule
Nov. 3 vs. Utah Tech
Nov. 5 at Creighton
Nov. 9 vs. Ozark Christian College (Mo.)
Nov. 12 vs. Southern Indiana
Nov. 16 vs. Western Michigan
Nov. 20 at Missouri
Nov. 24 vs. South Carolina State
Nov. 29 Air Force*
Dec. 3 vs. Portland State
Dec. 6 at Northern Colorado
Dec. 9 at Wyoming
Dec. 13 vs. Prairie View A&M
Dec. 17 vs. Dakota State
Dec. 20 at Kansas State
Dec. 28 vs. Mount Marty
*denotes neutral-site game at Rapid City
Marcus Traxler is the assistant editor and sports editor for the Mitchell Republic. A past winner of the state’s Outstanding Young Journalist award and the 2023 South Dakota Sportswriter of the Year, he’s worked for the newspaper since 2014 and covers a wide variety of topics. A Minnesota native, Traxler can be reached at [email protected].
