Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball to host Fresno State on Nov. 28
04/23/2012 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
April 23, 2012
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Southern Illinois will host Fresno State in a regular-season men's basketball game on Nov. 28 as part of the Challenge Series between the Mountain West Conference and Missouri Valley Conference.
The leagues announced all of the pairings for the upcoming season in a joint press release issued Monday afternoon.
The agreement between the Mountain West and Missouri Valley conferences is in the final year of a four-year term. In each of the first two years, the Challenge featured head-to-head competition between nine Mountain West and nine Missouri Valley teams, while last year's Challenge consisted of eight games.
Nine matchups will make up the 2012 Challenge, with Missouri Valley teams hosting five of the contests. Seven of the nine games will take place the week of Nov. 28-Dec. 4 while the remaining two are scheduled for Nov. 17 and Dec. 19. Bradley will be the MVC team that does not participate in the 2012 Challenge Series.
The conferences split last year's matchups, 4-4, but the Mountain West won the 2010 Challenge, 8-1, and holds a 16-10 lead in the first three years of the series. The MVC won the 2009 Challenge, 5-4.
Last season, the leagues combined for six NCAA tournament appearances, which included second-round wins by New Mexico and Creighton. Overall, the two conferences earned a collective 13 postseason berths and seven postseason victories in 2011-12.
The Mountain West has ranked among the Top 9 in the NCAA's final RPI report in 12 of the last 13 years, including two straight No. 5 rankings, while the Missouri Valley has been among the Top 9 in seven of the last eight years, ranking as high as No. 6 on two occasions. Teams from the two leagues have squared off 67 times since the inception of the Mountain West in 1999, with MW squads holding a 38-29 edge in those contests.
2012 CHALLENGE SCHEDULE (Series History)
Nov. 17 San Diego St. at Missouri State (Series tied, 2-2; last meeting 3/14/07)
Nov. 28 Boise State at Creighton (First meeting)
Nov. 28 Fresno State at Southern Illinois (SIU leads, 1-0; only meeting 3/9/66)
Dec. 1 Wichita State at Air Force (WSU leads, 1-0; only meeting 1/26/63)
Dec. 1 Evansville at Colorado State (First meeting)
Dec. 1 Drake at Nevada (Drake leads, 3-0; last meeting 12/16/69)
Dec. 1 New Mexico at Indiana State (First meeting)
Dec. 4 Wyoming at Illinois State (UW leads, 1-0; only meeting 12/28/85)
Dec. 19 UNI at UNLV (UNI leads, 1-0; only meeting 3/18/10)
