Game 1, 2026-27: at Troy (11/2)

[69MG]

The MAC didn't do us any favors in the MAC-Sun Belt challenge. Our first game is at Troy, who won the league last year.

Jon Rothstein @JonRothstein
Source: Matchups for the 2026 MAC/Sun Belt Challenge on Nov. 2nd are set.

Akron at UL
Ball St at Georgia Southern
Bowling Green at Georgia St
Buffalo at Marshall
CMU at ULM
EMU at CCU
Kent St at La Tech
Miami (OH) at JMU
Ohio at USA
Toledo at Arkansas St
UMass at Troy
WMU at ODU

[minutefanjsf]

The MAC didn't do us any favors in the MAC-Sun Belt challenge. Our first game is at Troy, who won the league last year.

Jon Rothstein @JonRothstein
Source: Matchups for the 2026 MAC/Sun Belt Challenge on Nov. 2nd are set.

Akron at UL
Ball St at Georgia Southern
Bowling Green at Georgia St
Buffalo at Marshall
CMU at ULM
EMU at CCU
Kent St at La Tech
Miami (OH) at JMU
Ohio at USA
Toledo at Arkansas St
UMass at Troy
WMU at ODU

I like it!

[inthescoop]

Oh wow that’s funny, didn’t Robert Davis Jr. just transfer to Troy.. guess we’ll see him again.

[eldonabe]

The MAC didn't do us any favors in the MAC-Sun Belt challenge. Our first game is at Troy, who won the league last year.

Jon Rothstein @JonRothstein
Source: Matchups for the 2026 MAC/Sun Belt Challenge on Nov. 2nd are set.

Akron at UL
Ball St at Georgia Southern
Bowling Green at Georgia St
Buffalo at Marshall
CMU at ULM
EMU at CCU
Kent St at La Tech
Miami (OH) at JMU
Ohio at USA
Toledo at Arkansas St
UMass at Troy
WMU at ODU

What does it say about this program when playing Troy is "not a favor".....

[Juice Stand]

UMass has fallen off the map. We stink. We get it.

But don't downgrade Troy. They've won 20+ games five years in a row and went to the NCAA tournament the past two years. They actually have three appearances since our last. We'd be giddy to have that kind of success, even in a conference like the MAC or SunBelt. They lost their coach after the season to Georgia Tech, but I'm not looking past them just because they aren't a P4 school.

[MikeUMA]

Edit: Realized after writing the following that others had already noticed the Troy matchup.

For the first time since 2013, UMMBB will start away from home. We've known that for a while, as it was locked in as part of the MAC-SBC Challenge. What we found out today was the opponent, and we'll be facing Troy for the first time ever.
https://umasshoops.com/wiki/doku.php?id=opponent_troy

The Trojans could be a tough test, as they won the Sun Belt (regular season and tournament) in '25 and '26. Those accomplishments, and their 5th-straight 20-win season, got their coach, Scott Cross, a promotion to Georgia Tech. New guy is Adam Howard, in his first HC role.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Howard

Expanding on their conference tournament wins for a moment: not surprisingly, they lose their NCAA Tournament games by a fairly wide margin...
76-57 to Kentucky in 2025
76-47 to Nebraska in '26

As you might expect with a coaching change, that led to a lot of roster turnover. They lost everybody from their core.
Victor Valdes, leading scorer at 14.8 ppg, followed Cross to GT.
Thomas Dowd, second leading scorer at 14.4 ppg, leading rebounder at 10.1 rpg, went to Auburn.
Theo Seng, 3rd scorer at 12.7 ppg, I think he's done. He was marked as a Senior last season and Troy's release about this game didn't mention him as returning.
Cooper Campbell, 4th scorer at 12.5 ppg, went to Liberty.
Cobi Campbell (Cooper's brother), 5th at 9.0 ppg, stuck with his bro and also went to Liberty.
Jerrell Bellamy, 6th at 7.9 ppg, might be done also, was a Senior.
They finally stop the bleeding with Kerrington Kiel, their 7th scorer at 3.9 pts, 3.6 rebs, 16.2 mpg. He's back this season.

Cool sub-plot: Former Minuteman Robert Davis Jr. is now with Troy.
https://x.com/TroyTrojansMBB/status/2048793032414085359
After putting up 15.6 ppg with Old Dominion in '24-25, and firing the most 3s in D-I, something changed in '25-26. He played 8 fewer games, came off the bench in 6, lost 6 minutes of time per game, and scoring fell to 9.6 ppg. Coach Mike Jones is still there, so Davis's leaving wasn't due to a change, but neither was that the reason for his departure from us in '24.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/pl ... -jr-1.html

[stevemaz]

I have a feeling we are going to be good.

[fenway617]

Not that many UM people are expected to attend this game but if so.... and very random, two years ago while on a long road trip with my wife and our dog, we needed a stop over while heading to Memphis from Key West so we stayed a day in Troy, Alabama. It is a great college town with lots if great restaurants and bars.

[PreecherJenkins]

Edit: Realized after writing the following that others had already noticed the Troy matchup.

For the first time since 2013, UMMBB will start away from home. We've known that for a while, as it was locked in as part of the MAC-SBC Challenge. What we found out today was the opponent, and we'll be facing Troy for the first time ever.
https://umasshoops.com/wiki/doku.php?id=opponent_troy

2013 was BC at the garden.

When and who did we play for the last true road opener? Hint the GOAT was in the building...

[Plano Minuteman]

I may drive down for this if anyone else happens to go, barring some extreme weather event.....

Let me know if anyone else plans to make the trip.

[MikeUMA]

When and who did we play for the last true road opener? Hint the GOAT was in the building...

Does it count if the game was later vacated?

[69MG]

I have no idea how good or bad Troy will be this year, but this is not the team that won the SBC tournament and went to the NCAA Tourney. As Mike said, they lost their coach and most of their team.

They return 2 players who had court time and they scored 6 points a game between them. Their roster is 5 freshmen, 6 transfers and the 2 returners.
Since this will also be their first game, a major factor might be how well each team has jelled as a unit. Their new coach has a lot of experience as an assistant, but this is his first head coaching job.

Here's their roster:
https://troytrojans.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster