Aggies to travel to Missouri State in revived MW-MVC Challenge


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LOGAN — Less than 72 hours after officially announcing new men’s basketball coach Tim Duryea, Utah State picked up an addition to the 2015-16 schedule.

So did the rest of the Mountain West Conference.

The league will revive the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Conference Challenge during the 2015-16 season, and the Aggies will travel to Missouri State on Dec. 1 as part of the series between the top 10 teams in both leagues.

“Missouri State is a solid program with great facilities,” new Utah State head coach Tim Duryea said in a statement. “They have a rich basketball tradition and we are anxious to make the trip.”

Utah State, which finished the 2014-15 season with an 18-13 mark, has never played Missouri State in basketball. The Aggies are 16-13 all-time against Missouri Valley schools.

Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge

Date Home Team Opponent
Nov. 13 San Diego State Illinois State
Nov. 13 Southern Illinois Air Force
Nov. 14 Northern Iowa Colorado State
Nov. 16 Indiana State Wyoming
Nov. 18 New Mexico Loyola
Dec. 1 Missouri State Utah State
Dec. 2 Wichita State UNLV
Dec. 12 Nevada Drake
Dec. 20 Boise State Bradley
Dec. 20 Fresno State Evansville

Missouri State finished 11-20 in 2014-15, including a 5-13 mark in league play. But the Bears will return eight players from last season’s roster, including all five starters.

The Mountain West and Missouri Valley previously played a league challenge from 2009-2013, wrapping up with a 22-13 record in favor of the Mountain West. The challenge was suspended when the west teams were reshuffled following significant change to the league structure when BYU, Utah and TCU all left the Mountain West — but it’s back now.

“The reintroduction of this challenge series is a positive step for both leagues,” Missouri Valley commissioner Doug Elgin said in a statement. “Tough non-conference scheduling has always been paramount in improving our league’s stature on the national scene. The series helps institutions in both leagues achieve that goal. It’s great for the fans of the Missouri Valley and the Mountain West as new rivalries are developed with nationally recognized programs that have a strong commitment to men’s basketball.”

One of the challenge’s feature games will see traditional MW power UNLV travel to Wichita State on Dec. 2, and San Diego State will host Illinois State on Nov. 13 in the first game of the conference series.

Colorado State will play at Northern Iowa on Nov. 14, and Boise State will host Bradley on Dec. 20 on the final day of the event, parallel to Evansville’s game at Fresno State. Each season’s matchups will be based on the previous season records, RPI and strength of schedule rankings, as well as projected rankings of the upcoming seasons based on composite rankings.

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