East Michigan News

The Eastern Michigan University men's and women's basketball teams have announced their season-opening opponents for the 2025-26 season in the Mid-American Conference-Sun Belt Conference Challenge. The men's team will face Georgia State University at home, while the women's team will travel to play against the University of Louisiana Monroe. This was confirmed on Tuesday, July 1.

Both teams are scheduled to compete against a yet-to-be-determined Sun Belt Conference opponent in the second half of the MAC-SBC Challenge on February 7. On that date, the women will host a game in Ypsilanti, and the men will play away.

Further details about both teams' schedules for the upcoming season are expected later this summer. Season tickets for all home games are currently available through the EMU Ticket Office.

Under Head Coach Stan Heath, now in his fifth year, the Eastern Michigan men's team aims to build on their previous trip to the MAC Tournament. The team features a roster primarily composed of players from Michigan and is noted for its strong backcourt.

The women's team, led by second-year Head Coach Sahar Nusseibeh, has revamped its lineup with standout center Sisi Eleko leading after an impressive first season where she was named second-team all-conference.

Historically, EMU's men's team holds a 2-0 record at home in the MAC-SBC Challenge but is 2-2 overall. They previously defeated Old Dominion University and Georgia Southern University but faced losses at Texas State University and ULM. Meanwhile, Georgia State finished their last season with a 14-19 record.

The women's team has struggled more in past challenges with a 1-3 overall record and no wins on the road. Their only victory came against South Alabama during the 2023-24 season.

ULM ended their previous season with an 11-19 record and exited early from their conference tournament. The upcoming game between Eastern Michigan's women and ULM marks their first meeting.

The MAC-SBC Challenge represents a scheduling alliance where each participating team plays one home game and one away game per season. Matchups for February games will be determined based on NET rankings announced in January. Ordinal Sports Group assists with scheduling logistics, considering factors like geography and historical matchups.

All games within this challenge will be broadcasted on ESPN platforms.

For ongoing updates about Eastern Michigan Eagles basketball, fans can visit EMUEagles.com or follow them on social media platforms such as X and Instagram under respective handles for both men's (@EMU_MBB) and women's (@EMUWBB) teams.