The Big Sky Conference announced on Oct. 15, in a statement on the conference’s website, the new 2020 basketball schedules for their 11 conference members.
The 20-game, conference-only schedule will tip-off on Dec. 3.
Each school will play four opposing teams at home and will face four opponents on the road. The teams will also play two home games and home series against two others in the conference, which results in each team playing every other team in Big Sky.
Men’s and women’s teams will play the same schools, but in the opposite location.
Weber State’s men’s team home-only opponents will be Eastern Washington, Southern Utah, Montana State, Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado.
They’ll be on the road against Portland State, Idaho, Montana and Sacramento State. Both teams will face Idaho State and Southern Utah in two home-and-home series.
“This schedule accomplishes many of the objectives that we prioritized, most notably providing a full lineup of competitive opportunities for our men’s and women’s basketball student-athletes while reducing the number of road trips our programs will make,” Commissioner Tom Wistrcill said in a statement on the conference’s website.
Weber State’s season tip-off on Dec. 3 is against the Portland State Vikings. The men’s team will travel to the Pacific Northwest while the women’s team will hit the court in the Dee Events Center.
However, Wildcat men’s Head Coach Randy Rahe told the Standard-Examiner that teams are discussing moving these games to allow for already-scheduled non-conference games.
But if the schedule stays put, the next game for the Wildcat’s won’t come until nearly a month after their opening games. The teams play Idaho State on Dec. 31, in the first of their two home-and-home series of the season.
This season is shorter than a typical Wildcat basketball season. Due to COVID-19, they aren’t playing in the tournaments they usually travel to, like last year’s Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Florida. They will also, in all likelihood, have less non-conference games as playing those appears to still be up in the air.
The Wildcats finish the season playing Northern Colorado on March 4 to 6, followed by the 2021 Big Sky Basketball Tournament on March 8 to 13, in Boise, Idaho, at Idaho Central Arena.
