FARGO – The Summit League basketball schedule will have a new look to it for the upcoming season.

The conference announced Wednesday, Aug. 7 that the league will have a hybrid schedule for this season and teams will play league games on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with an occasional doubleheader.

North Dakota State will face its biggest rival on two separate Wednesdays during the season.

The Bison men will go to Brookings, South Dakota to take on South Dakota State on Wednesday, Feb. 19 and the NDSU women will also play on a Wednesday at the new First Bank and Trust Arena on Jan. 29.

In fact, each of the NDSU women’s matchups with the Jackrabbits will be on Wednesdays. The Jacks trip to Fargo will be on Feb. 12.

With the Summit League still having nine members for a second straight year, scheduling becomes a challenge. Commissioner Josh Fenton has spent the last two years trying to find the right formula to play games. He said on Hot Mic in March 2024 that may include “playing on non-traditional dates.”

The league also pushed its start date of games back to after the first of the year. Over the past few seasons a common complaint from fans was having league games being played before Christmas or during the holiday season where there are either no or few students on campus for the league’s biggest games.

For example, the NDSU men hosted SDSU in back to back seasons during the holiday break. In December 2021, the Bison faced UND on Dec. 22 in front of a crowd of 3,510 fans.

The league announced last month that the conference tournament would be moving to a Wednesday-Sunday format in Sioux Falls for the first time after traditionally concluding the tournament on a Tuesday night. The tournament will begin on Mar. 5, concluding Mar. 9.

Dave Richman’s Bison men will open league play at home on Thursday, Jan. 2 against St. Thomas. The Tommies eliminated NDSU from last year’s conference tournament in the quarterfinals. The Bison will host North Dakota in a doubleheader at the Scheels Center on Saturday, Jan. 25.

There will not be a doubleheader in Grand Forks this year.

The move to Wednesdays for the league may also be catering to television. The conference is in the second year of its three-year agreement with CBS Sports Network. Last year the league televised games on Saturdays and Sundays, but Wednesdays may prove to get more attention or better time slots than traditionally busy Saturdays during the season.

Jory Collins NDSU women’s basketball team will open conference play on the road Jan. 4 at St. Thomas, with its home opener slated for Jan. 9 against Denver.

NDSU men’s basketball 2024-25 conference schedule

Jan. 2 – vs. St. Thomas

Jan. 4 – vs. Omaha

Jan. 9 – at Oral Roberts

Jan. 11 – at Denver

Jan. 16 – vs Kansas City

Jan. 18 – at South Dakota

Jan. 25 – vs North Dakota (doubleheader)

Jan. 30 – vs South Dakota State

Feb. 1 – at St. Thomas

Feb. 6 – at Kansas City

Feb. 8 – at Omaha

Feb. 13 – vs Oral Roberts

Feb. 15 – vs Denver

Feb. 19 – at South Dakota State (Wednesday)

Feb. 22 – at North Dakota

Feb. 26 – vs South Dakota (Wednesday)

NDSU women’s basketball 2024-25 conference schedule

Jan. 4 – at St. Thomas

Jan. 9 – vs Denver

Jan. 11 – vs Oral Roberts

Jan. 16 – at Omaha

Jan. 18 – at Kansas City

Jan. 22 – at South Dakota (Wednesday)

Jan. 25 – vs North Dakota (doubleheader)

Jan. 29 – at South Dakota State (Wednesday)

Feb. 1 – vs St. Thomas

Feb. 8 – vs South Dakota

Feb. 12 – vs South Dakota State (Wednesday)

Feb. 15 – at North Dakota

Feb. 20 – at Denver

Feb. 22 – at Oral Roberts

Feb. 27 – vs Kansas City

Mar. 1 – vs Omaha

Dom Izzo is the Sports Director at WDAY-TV. He began working for WDAY in 2006 as the weekend sports anchor and was promoted to Sports Director in 2010.