West Virginia’s 2026-27 men’s basketball nonconference slate brings a little of everything: a home-heavy start, a handful of first-time matchups, and the kind of tournament stretch that could tell you plenty about the Mountaineers before Big 12 play arrives.
The schedule opens at Hope Coliseum on Monday, Nov. 2, when WVU hosts Niagara. The programs have met six times, dating back to 1918, but this will be the first time they square off in Morgantown.
The Mountaineers then keep the opening homestand rolling with Stetson on Friday, Nov. 6.
That will be the fourth meeting in the series and the first at Hope Coliseum since 2015.
West Virginia will stay home again on Thursday, Nov. 12 for another unfamiliar opponent, welcoming Mercer for the first time in school history.
Then comes the first major test of the nonconference season. The Players Era 8 begins Tuesday, Nov. 17 in Las Vegas, where WVU opens against Auburn. From there, the Mountaineers will play either Kansas or UNLV in game two before finishing the event on Thursday, Nov. 19 against one of four possible opponents: Houston, Rutgers, Florida or Notre Dame.
The November stretch ends with another notable name. West Virginia meets North Carolina in the Dick Vitale Invitational in Charlotte on Friday, Nov.
- It’s the first meeting between the schools in 61 years, and WVU owns a 5-0 edge in the series.
After that, the Mountaineers return to Morgantown on Tuesday, Dec. 1 to face Mercyhurst for the third straight season.
December quickly picks up steam. Virginia Tech visits Hope Coliseum on Saturday, Dec. 5 to start a three-game series.
That will be the 80th meeting between the schools, with WVU leading the all-time series 49-30. Four days later, West Virginia and Pitt renew things again on Wednesday, Dec. 9 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh as part of the Hope Gas Backyard Basketball Classic.
It will be the 193rd meeting in the series, and the Mountaineers have won seven of the last nine. WVU also holds the all-time edge, 102-90.
The final four nonconference games are set up with three at home. Coppin State comes to Morgantown on Sunday, Dec. 13, followed by another first-time opponent in Northern Arizona on Wednesday, Dec.
- West Virginia then meets Wake Forest for the second straight year in the Holiday Hoopfest on Saturday, Dec. 19, this time in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The nonconference schedule wraps up Monday, Dec. 21 against South Carolina State at Hope Coliseum. The Bulldogs are coached by former longtime WVU assistant coach Erik Martin.
West Virginia will also play three exhibition games this season under revised NCAA rules. The Mountaineers travel to Maryland on Sunday, Oct. 18, visit Glenville State on Friday, Oct. 23, and host Wheeling on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at Hope Coliseum for the second year in a row.
The Big 12 schedule is still to come, but WVU already knows the league home lineup: Arizona, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU and UCF.
Season tickets are available for the 2026-27 campaign, with Upper Baseline get-in pricing still marked at a 25% reduction. The school says there is no required Mountaineer Athletic Club per-seat contribution, and season tickets start at $250.
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WVU Basketball Just Gave Fans An Early Schedule Test To Watch
West Virginias mens basketball program is already giving fans something to circle before the season even starts. The Mountaineers released their non-conference schedule for the upcoming year, and it comes with a mix of three exhibition games and a trip to the Players Era Tournament, setting up an early stretch that should tell a lot about where Ross Hodges first team stands.
Hodge said the goal was to build a schedule that tests his group while also giving the fan base matchups it can get behind, and the slate does both. Competitive games and familiar regional opponents are part of the plan, with the meeting against Virginia Tech standing out as one of the dates that should draw extra attention once the calendar gets closer. [Read more 🡒]
WVUs Nonconference Slate Will Test The Mountaineers Earlier Than Expected
West Virginias nonconference basketball schedule is out, and it does not leave much room for easing into the season. The slate already includes familiar high-profile measuring sticks such as North Carolina and Auburn, along with a mix of other opponents that will give the Mountaineers a clearer idea of where they stand before Big 12 play arrives.
BartTorviks preseason rankings slot West Virginia at No. 59 nationally, which makes the early stretch worth watching even more closely. The article lays out each nonconference opponents ranking to show just how demanding the path looks, and for the Mountaineers the question is less about whether theyll be challenged than how quickly those challenges start to stack up. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Buzz Is Rising Fast But Two Roster Calls Loom Large
West Virginias basketball buzz has been building quickly around Ross Hodges first team, and there is a reason for the optimism. The roster is young, the transfer haul and high school additions have given the Mountaineers a different look, and even former player Emmitt Matthews Jr. has sounded encouraged about where things could be headed as the season approaches.
The challenge is that the early excitement is still tied to a couple of unfinished roster matters that could shape how high this group can climb. The non-conference slate will not offer much breathing room, either, with North Carolina, Wake Forest in Greensboro, Pitt and Virginia Tech all waiting before league play really settles in. For West Virginia, the questions are no longer about whether there is intrigue, but whether the pieces will all be available when the games start to matter. [Read more 🡒]