Feb. 12—GRAND FORKS — Big Sky Conference opponents will continue to be a regular feature of the UND men's basketball team's non-conference schedule.
The Fighting Hawks are one of eight members of the Summit League and Big Sky that have agreed to a four-year men's basketball series that will begin in the 2026-27 season.
The Hawks, North Dakota State, South Dakota and South Dakota State are the Summit League's four representatives.
The Big Sky is represented by Idaho, Idaho State, Montana and Montana State.
Each team will play one home and one road game against opposing representatives in each of the four seasons. There are 32 contests scheduled over the four-year stretch.
UND will travel to Montana State and host Montana in the 2026-27 season. Year 2 features a trip to Idaho and a home game against Idaho State.
The Hawks will play the same four opponents in the 2028-29 and 2029-30 seasons, but the hosting venues will be reversed.
"This series with the Dakotas, Montanas and Idahos will provide each school two quality games a year with each of us having a great home game for our fans," UND athletic director Bill Chaves said in a press release. "I would like to thank MSU AD, Leon Costello, for leading the charge on this and all of our schools for seeing the benefit of playing in this competition."
The Summit League and Big Sky previously agreed to a four-year scheduling agreement from the 2018-19 to 2021-22 seasons.
From the 2023-24 to the 2025-26 seasons, the two conferences participated in the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge, which included women's basketball.
The challenge pitted opposing conference teams and assigned points to the victors.
The Big Sky won this season's challenge by a final score of 25-20. The Summit League won the challenge in the previous two seasons.
The Hawks played Idaho and Montana this year as part of the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge.
UND suffered a 90-58 road loss to the Vandals and a 79-75 defeat to the Grizzlies at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
The Hawks beat Weber State 80-75 and lost to Eastern Washington 87-81 in the 2024-25 season's challenge.
UND has scheduled a Big Sky opponent in every season since its departure from the conference in 2018.