Montana men's basketball finalizes schedule for 2026-27 season

MISSOULA — Coach Travis DeCuire and the Montana men’s basketball program have finalized their 2026-27 schedule. The Grizzlies will host five non-conference games in 2026 while hitting the road to take on three Power 4 teams and several high-level majors. 
 
There will be a new look to the Big Sky Conference schedule in 2026-27 as well with Sacramento State departing the league and Utah Tech and Southern Utah joining. 
 
“I like the schedule in terms of the competitiveness of it,” DeCuire said. “As you look at the schedule, three consecutive road games, come home, three more road games. We miss a lot of school and it’s going to be grueling, but it prepares us for conference when you look up and see we have four consecutive road games in Big Sky play. We can say we’ve been there.”
 
Montana will indeed have long stretches on the road this season, playing six out of seven games away from Missoula from Nov. 4 through Dec. 8. They will have another grueling road stretch in conference play with six out of eight on the road, including four straight from Feb. 4-13.
 
The Griz will open the season on Nov. 2 on the road at Oregon. It’s the 31st all-time meeting between the two schools and the fourth in the last six years. DeCuire is 0-5 against Oregon in his tenure. 
 
Montana will stay out west with their next road game as they take on San Francisco on Nov. 10. It’s the second meeting in the last three years between the two and the 10th all-time meeting. 
 
“We always want to try to take guys home, so California and the Northwest are areas where we like to return,” DeCuire said. “We would like to play games in Seattle but that opportunity hasn’t presented itself. We typically see Oregon about every other year because they’re one of the few that will say yes. I’m excited though, definitely strong games on the schedule as usual.”
 
The San Francisco game kicks off a stretch of three straight away from home as they face North Dakota and Kansas State on Nov. 14 and 16, respectively. DeCuire is 10-1 against the former Big Sky foe North Dakota. This is the first meeting between Montana and Kansas State since 1978, which the Grizzlies won. They are 1-1 all-time against the Wildcats.
 
The next road trip ties in the start of Big Sky Conference play. Montana faces Northern Arizona on Dec. 3 in a standalone league game. The rest of the conference plays Thursday and Saturday that week, so DeCuire scheduled Utah State that Saturday to mimic the schedule.
 
It’s the 43rd all-time meeting between Montana and Utah State and the second under DeCuire. The Aggies won in Logan 95-83 in November 2024.
 
Montana also added a game at Arizona State to the trip. It’s the first matchup with the Sun Devils since 1976. Arizona State is 3-1 all-time against Montana.
 
“We thought while on the road it made sense to try to attach a road game to the NAU trip,” DeCuire said. “For the last game, we struggled to get dates that made sense and ended up adding this Arizona State game to the trip. It’s not necessarily what I wanted, but it was an opportunity we couldn’t turn down.”
 
Montana’s final road non-conference game comes at Cal Poly on Dec. 12 in a return trip of a home-and-home. The Griz won 90-82 last season in Missoula.
 
The first home game of the year is against Salish Kootenai on Nov. 4. The Griz next play at home on Nov. 23 against Carroll College. The first Division I opponent in Missoula is South Dakota on Dec. 8 as part of a scheduling agreement between the Big Sky and Summit League. 
 
The Grizzlies close out the non-conference portion of the schedule with back-to-back games at home. The final game is against Providence on Dec. 21. The highlight of the home non-conference schedule is on Dec. 18 when Pepperdine comes to town. 
 
“That’s a big home game. Any time we can get Mountain West or WCC teams in our building it’s an incredible opportunity to see where we’re at,” DeCuire said. “We usually play those types of games on the road and those are tougher games. To have those opportunities at home is always a measuring stick in terms of where we think we are at, especially at the end of non-conference.
 
It’s the first meeting between Montana and Pepperdine since 2016. DeCuire is 1-1 against the Waves as a head coach and also went 1-1 against them as a player at Montana.
 
“Pepperdine once was the usual suspect home-and-home when I played here and early in my coaching tenure, but it became tougher to schedule so I’m excited to have them back,” DeCuire said.
 
After a strenuous non-conference schedule, Montana does get some reprieve around the holidays. They open league play with two home games against the two schools they eliminated from the Big Sky Tournament last year in Northern Colorado and Portland State. 
 
They play four straight games at home from Dec. 18 to Jan. 2 with nearly a month total between road games. 
 
The two big dates on the calendar are always the Brawl of the Wild rivalry games with Montana State. The Grizzlies head to Bozeman on Jan. 23 and get the Bobcats in Missoula on Feb. 27, the second-to-last game of the regular season.
 
They take on the newcomers to the league for the first time on Jan. 18 when they head to St. George to play at Utah Tech. They get the Trailblazers at home on Feb. 22. Montana close the season on the road at Southern Utah on March 1 and get the Thunderbirds at home on Jan. 25.
 
DeCuire said that he is excited for the new teams and likes the fit with the league, but will miss having Sacramento State in the Big Sky.
 
“I hate to see Sacramento State leave because it’s an opportunity to play in Northern California and we’ve always drawn well there,” DeCuire said. “It’s a tough loss in terms of the experience for our student-athletes and the guys we recruit.”
 
Another positive of the 11-team Big Sky Conference? More guaranteed home games.
 
“I think going to 20 conference games makes scheduling easier for everyone in conference because everyone is struggling to get home games, so there’s a positive on that end,” DeCuire said. “Travel got tougher, though. I think the footprint has gotten a lot more difficult for some of the teams.”
 
There is another wrinkle that comes with having 11 teams, which DeCuire is well aware of from his early tenure when both Sacramento State and Southern Utah were in the league. The lone wolf team. This year, Northern Arizona will be the lone wolf, playing without a traditional travel partner.
 
“I think the lone wolf thing is something to always pay attention to, it could be interesting. I feel like they’ve finished in the top four a lot, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out,” DeCuire said. “The odd number is always difficult to make a schedule with so I don’t envy the Big Sky in terms of trying to find a way to balance the schedules out.”