Utah Valley University head coach Mark Pope has released the 2017-18 men's basketball schedule, which features matchups at national powers Kentucky and Duke, along with the first-ever matchup at home against in-state rival BYU.

"Our goal is to schedule the most ambitious non-conference schedule in America," said Pope. "We love it because it inspires and challenges our guys. We're doing it for our university and our community. It also gives us a look at what we want to become. "

This season's schedule includes games against 10 teams that went to a national postseason tournament last season, including five teams that won their conference tournament and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

The Wolverines open the season on what might be the toughest 24 hours of basketball ever played in NCAA history. Utah Valley will travel to Lexington, Kentucky, to open the 2017-18 season against SEC foe Kentucky on Nov. 10, at Rupp Arena. The Wolverines then continue their road trip against ACC foe Duke on Nov. 11, at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Kentucky and Duke own a combined 13 NCAA men's basketball national titles.

"This is what college basketball is supposed to be," said Pope. "We couldn't be more excited to go out and play two of the best teams in the entire country in a 24-hour period to open our season. Our goal is to be the best team we can possibly be at the end of the season. We had great success with that last year, and part of doing that is putting together the hardest non-conference schedule we can and we've accomplished that."

Following the toughest 24 hours in the history of college basketball, Utah Valley will travel to play cross-state rival Idaho State on Nov. 14. The Wolverines then head back to Orem to play their home opener against UC Davis on Nov. 18. The Aggies won the Big West Conference tournament last season and made their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

UVU travels to Grand Forks, North Dakota, to play reigning Big Sky Conference tournament champion North Dakota on Nov. 25. With its conference tournament title, UND earned its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament last season.

Utah Valley opens a three-game homestand on Nov. 29, when the Wolverines welcome BYU to the UCCU Center for the first time in school history. UVU defeated BYU, 114-101, at the Marriott Center in Provo last season in the first game of the UCCU Crosstown Clash series. UVU will then host UTSA on Dec. 2, before welcoming in-state rival Weber State to Orem on Dec. 6, as part of the three-game homestand.

Pope then takes his squad to Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 9, before returning home to the UCCU Center to host Bethesda on Dec. 14. The Wolverines then fly across the ocean to Hawaii to take on the Rainbow Warriors on Dec. 17, at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.

Utah Valley wraps up its non-conference slate by playing three of its final four non-league games at home. UVU will host Montana Tech on Dec. 20, before traveling to play Sam Houston State on Dec. 22, in Huntsville, Texas. The Wolverines then wrap up non-league play at home against UC Riverside on Dec. 28, and against Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 30.

The Wolverines then turn their attention to an extremely competitive Western Athletic Conference schedule. The WAC is a league that made the biggest conference RPI jump in the nation last year. The league jumped up nine spots from No. 26 at the end of the 2015-16 season to the No. 17 spot at the end of last season. Half of the teams in the WAC played in national postseason tournaments last season with New Mexico State in the NCAA Tournament, CSU Bakersfield in the NIT and UVU and UMKC in the College Basketball Invitational.

Utah Valley won its first-ever postseason national tournament games last season with wins over Georgia Southern and Rice to advance to the CBI Final Four. CSUB earned a spot in the NIT where the team made a run to the NIT Final Four at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

"We don't only have to rely on our non-conference schedule to play great teams because we are in the fastest-growing conference in the nation," said Pope. "The WAC continues to get better and better each year."

View Comments

Utah Valley's 14-game WAC schedule begins on Jan. 6, at home against CSU Bakersfield. The game will be a rematch of last season's quadruple overtime game in the semifinals of last year's WAC Tournament game. CSUB won the four-overtime game, 80-81, and then lost to New Mexico State in the WAC title game.

UVU's WAC schedule includes home-and-home matchups against all seven conference opponents, including Grand Canyon, Chicago State, Kansas City, CSU Bakersfield, UT-Rio Grande Valley, Seattle U and 2017 WAC tournament champion and NCAA Tournament participant New Mexico State. The WAC Tournament will take place March 8-10, at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

UVU fans can get their first look at this year's team at Utah Valley's Midnight Madness event, which takes place Oct. 13, at 11:30 p.m. MT, at Lockhart Arena.

Jason Erickson works in the communications office at the Utah Valley University athletic department. For more information on Wolverine athletics, visit GoUVU.com.

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.