MOBILE, Ala. – The Sun Belt Conference announced Monday the matchups for the 2025 MAC-SBC Challenge, with South Alabama men's basketball set to take on Toledo on the road on Monday, Nov.3.
Now entering its third year, the MAC-SBC Challenge is a men's basketball scheduling alliance between the Mid-American Conference and the Sun Belt Conference. Following the addition of UMass to the MAC this offseason, the 2025 edition will feature 13 matchups, with Sun Belt teams traveling to face MAC opponents. Initial pairings are determined based on projected NET rankings for the upcoming season.Each team in the challenge is guaranteed one home and one away contest as part of the series.
South Alabama enters the new season following a breakthrough 2024-25 campaign. Picked to finish 11th in the Sun Belt preseason poll, the Jaguars far exceeded expectations, finishing with a 21-11 record and securing the program's first Sun Belt regular-season title since 2008.
The Jaguars return key contributors, including John Broom, Jayden Cooper, Maxwell Land, JJ Wheat, and Randy Brady, while reloading with a talented group of newcomers: NAIA All-Americans Chaze Harris and Peyton Law, Division II standout Brian Hawthorne, junior college product Stephen Williams, Canadian sharpshooter Adam Olsen, and freshmen Sam Shoptaw and Desmond Williams.
The game at Toledo marks the second all-time meeting between the programs and the first since the 2000-01 season when the Rockets claimed a 76-67 overtime win in the postseason NIT at John F. Savage Arena.
Toledo is coming off an 18-15 campaign that included a run to the MAC Championship Tournament semifinals. Head coach Tod Kowalczyk has guided the Rockets to four outright MAC titles in the past five seasons. They return standout guard Sonny Wilson, who averaged 15.2 points per game last year.
All MAC-SBC Challenge matchups will be broadcast on ESPN platforms.
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