Memphis will kick off the 2026-27 regular season Monday night with a tough one, meeting No. 18 Iowa State in a 6 p.m. neutral-site matchup at Sanford Pentagon in South Dakota.
The Tigers enter at 0-0, but Penny Hardaway’s team has been a reliable starter under his watch. Memphis is 8-0 in season openers during Hardaway’s tenure, with wins over Tennessee Tech twice, SC State, Saint Mary's, Vanderbilt, Jackson State, Missouri and San Francisco.
This opener comes after a pair of road exhibition tests against SEC competition. Memphis handled Mississippi State 75-78 before dropping a 93-81 decision to No. 12 Arkansas.
Against the Bulldogs, the Tigers came out of halftime on an 11-0 burst to push the margin to 50-35, and they never let the lead fall below 14 points over the final 16 minutes. Memphis was in front for more than 38 minutes in that game.
The Arkansas exhibition had its own bright spots despite the loss. Memphis actually outscored the Razorbacks 47-45 in the second half, and senior Nemanja Popovic led the way with 16 points and a team-best six rebounds. He shot 5-of-7 from the field and was perfect at the line, going 6-of-6 on free throws.
Popovic has already been cleared by the NCAA for two years of eligibility, but Memphis was later told he must sit through a six-game withholding period to open the season because of prior international competition. The school is appealing that decision, and an update on his status will come once the NCAA makes a final ruling.
The Tigers also bring in a pair of notable seniors in Jayden Reid and Tylik Weeks. Reid, a Northwestern transfer, landed on the Preseason All-Conference First-Team after averaging 10.1 points per game last season. He was Memphis’ top scorer in the exhibition win over Mississippi State, piling up 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting while adding four assists, three steals and no turnovers.
Reid’s first regular-season game in a Memphis uniform will also put him across from an old teammate. Iowa State’s Tre Singleton was a starter alongside Reid at Northwestern last season and averaged 7.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
Weeks, who came over from Southern Miss, earned Preseason All-Conference Second-Team honors after leading the Sun Belt in scoring last season at 19.7 points per game. The Sun Belt All-Conference First-Team pick scored in double figures in 32 of 34 games and reached 30 points four times.
Memphis also returns two student-athletes, including one starter in junior Julius Thedford. He was the team’s leading rebounder and averaged 8.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Senior William Whorton is back as well after appearing in 19 games and making four starts.
The preseason respect for Memphis was clear, too. The Tigers were picked second in the American Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll, earning four of 13 first-place votes and 131 points. Wichita State finished first with 140 points and nine first-place votes.
Iowa State arrives with plenty of momentum of its own after a 29-8 season that ended in the Sweet 16. The Cyclones split a pair of exhibition games, losing to Creighton 83-80 before beating Northwestern 94-59. Tamin Lipsey, who averaged 13.5 points per game last season, sat out the Creighton game but posted 14 points and seven assists in 30 minutes against Northwestern.
Monday’s game will air on FS1 with Connor Onion and Miles Simon on the call. It can also be heard on 98.9 The Roar with Dave Woloshin and Ken Moody.
This will be just the second meeting ever between Memphis and Iowa State. The Cyclones won the first matchup 78-59 in the NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn during the 2021-22 season.
Hardaway is 1-1 against Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger.
Their first meeting came in Hardaway’s debut season in 2018-19, when Otzelberger was at South Dakota State and Memphis won 88-80 on Dec. 4, 2018 at FedExForum. The two met again in 2021-22.
Memphis has had success against ranked teams in openers and on neutral floors under Hardaway. The Tigers are 2-0 in season openers against Power 4 opponents with wins over Missouri in 2024-25 and Vanderbilt in 2022-23, and they are 21-10 against Power 4 teams in Hardaway’s eight seasons.
The program’s last win over a ranked team came on Dec. 28, 2024 against No. 16 Ole Miss, 87-80 at home, while its most recent neutral-site win over a ranked opponent was the 99-97 overtime victory over No.
2 UConn at the Maui Invitational on Nov. 25, 2024.
Memphis is 181-148 all-time on neutral courts, and its last neutral-site season opener came on Nov. 25, 2020, when it beat Saint Mary's 73-56 at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.
The Tigers’ last opening-day game against a ranked opponent was a loss to No. 25 Alabama on Nov. 10, 2017 in Annapolis, Maryland, before Hardaway arrived.
Their last opening-day win over a ranked team came on Nov. 25, 1995, when they beat No. 24 Purdue 91-76 in Kansas City.
The highest-ranked opponent Memphis has ever beaten on opening day was No. 20 Cleveland State, a 70-66 win in the Coca-Cola Preseason NIT on Nov. 22, 1986 at home.
Memphis’ non-conference slate carries an average opponent NET of 96.7, based on the final 2025-26 rankings, underscoring Hardaway’s usual approach of challenging his team early.
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