Purple Aces to play at New Mexico
 The Missouri Valley Conference/Mountain West Challenge is back in 2016-17 as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team will travel to New Mexico for a contest on Wednesday, November 29, 2017. It will mark the first-ever meeting on the hardwood between the two programs.
All 10 games in the series will take place within a six-day span in late November/early December. The agreement between the Mountain West and Missouri Valley conferences is in the third year of a four-year term.
This past year, the Mountain West Conference and Missouri Valley Conference split the 10-game series, 5-5. The MW has an all-time series edge of 3-1-2 in six previous Challenge seasons, which includes an overall advantage of 33-22 in games played in association with the series.
Evansville has a 2-3 record in the Challenge Series, but has won the last two games. In 2015, the Aces pulled off an impressive 85-77 victory at Fresno State before defeating Boise State by a final of 72-67 last season.
“The MVC/Mountain West Challenge is a great opportunity for schools from both leagues,†UE head coach Marty Simmons said. “It gives our fans the chance to watch us face teams that we would not usually have the chance to play while giving our student-athletes and program a non-conference game against great competition.â€
New Mexico is coming off of a 17-14 campaign in 2016-17 while going 10-8 in conference play. The Lobos boast one of the top home atmospheres in the nation at WisePies Arena aka The Pit. The venue has been rated as one of the top in college basketball by NCAA.com, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and FoxSports.com.
The Challenge Series features head-to-head competition between 10 Mountain West and 10 Missouri Valley teams annually, with each conference hosting five games apiece each season.
Annual matchups for teams in the Challenge Series will be based upon factors including the previous year’s achievements, records and RPI rankings, as well as projected rankings/strength of teams in the upcoming season, based on composite sources. Each season will be considered separately in terms of matchups, therefore, games from the previous year’s Challenge Series may not be returned.
Television rights for each Challenge Series contest will be controlled by the home team’s conference television agreement, which will dictate the distribution of the game and all related matters, including tip times.
