Southland announces 2023-24 basketball schedule, media day date

FRISCO, Texas – The Southland Conference has released its 2023-24 men’s and women’s basketball conference schedule, announced by the conference on Tuesday morning.

It will be a new format for league games this season as the men’s conference schedule will take place on Saturday and Monday while women’s contests will be played on Thursday and Saturday. Similar to last season, the final regular season games will take place on Wednesday, March 6 for both the men and women.

The league will kick things off on Tuesday, October 10 with the Southland Conference Basketball Media Days, scheduled to take place in the Lake Charles area, with all 20 coaches between the men’s and women’s side present.

The league’s regular-season slate opens on Thursday, January 4 for the women and Saturday, January 6 for the men.

Reigning men’s regular season and two-time tournament champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi under new head coach Jim Shaw will open their title defense on the 6th on the road against new-look UIW under first-year head coach Shane Heirman.

Last year’s epic championship game will see a rematch at two separate points in the regular season. A&M-Corpus Christi will travel to Northwestern State on January 27 with the Demons making the return trip to the Islanders on February 19.

Many new faces will dawn the sidelines in the Southland this season as five head coaches enter their first season, including Shaw and Heriman. First-year head coach Will Wade opens his campaign on the road against A&M-Commerce, while Nicholls front-man Tevon Saddler opens at HCU. Head coach Rick Cabrera of Northwestern State hits the road in his first conference contest against Lamar.

Meanwhile, reigning women’s regular season and tournament champion Southeastern under Ayla Guzzardo will start their season on the road as they take on rival Nicholls under first-year head coach Justin Payne on January 4. The co-champion of the regular season Texas A&M-Corpus Christi will open up against HCU at home on the 4th.

Last season’s championship game rematch will take place on January 27 as Lamar will welcome in Southeastern with the return game in Hammond scheduled for February 15.

Three new coaches enter the league on the women’s side for 2023-24. A pair of first-year coaches square off in their opener as Trelanne Powell of New Orleans welcomes in Valerie King of A&M-Commerce.

All conference games will be featured on ESPN+ throughout the season. It will all lead to eight teams from both the men’s and women’s side as they will square off at the 2024 Southland Conference Basketball Tournament at the Legacy Center in Lake Charles, La. from March 10-14.