MONTANA STATE PRESS RELEASE
Brian Fish proved during his first two seasons at Montana State that his men’s basketball program does not shrink from playing difficult road games. His third schedule as the Bobcats head coach shows the commitment to playing at home.
“The next step in the development of this program is playing home games against quality opponents in November and December,” Fish said in announcing a schedule that features 17 regular-season home games, including home games against schools from the Sun Belt, Colonial and Mid-American Conferences. “It’s important that we give our great fans opportunities to watch our team, and it’s important that we commit to our players through the chance to play games at home.”
After playing Montana Western in an exhibition on November 4, the Cats visit Washington State one week later to open regular season play. Montana State hosts Louisiana Lafayette of the Sun Belt Conference on November 14, Rocky Mountain on November 16, and perennial Colonial Conference power James Madison on November 18.
Between games at Conference USA foe Rice (November 21) and Utah of the Pac 12 (December 1), MSU hosts Delaware State and Arizona Christian. The Cats host Milwaukee of the Horizon League (December 5), South Dakota of the Summit League (December 18) and Central Michigan of the MAC (December 21). The Cats visit South Dakota (December 7) and fellow Summit League entry Omaha (December 10) in a Midwest swing.
Conference play offers the usual assortment of rivalries and showdowns. The Big Sky season opens when fellow charter members Weber State (December 29) and Idaho State (December 31) close out 2016, and concludes with Montana visiting Worthington Arena for MSU’s regular season finale on February 25. In between the Cats host conference weekends featuring North Dakota and Northern Colorado (January 12-14), Idaho and Eastern Washington (January 26-28), and Portland State and Sacramento State (February 16-18).
2016-17 Schedule
November 4 exhibition-UM Western, TBA
November 11 at Washington State, TBA
November 14 UL Lafayette, TBA
November 16 Rocky Mountain, TBA
November 18 James Madison, TBA
November 21 at Rice, TBA
November 26 Delaware State, TBA
November 28 Arizona Christian, TBA
December 1 at Utah, TBA
December 5 Milwaukee, TBA
December 7 at South Dakota, TBA
December 10 at Omaha, TBA
December 18 South Dakota, TBA
December 21 Central Michigan, TBA
December 29 *Weber State, 7:05 pm
December 31 *Idaho State, 2:05 pm
January 5 *at Eastern Wash., TBA
January 7 *at Idaho, TBA
January 12 *North Dakota, 7:05 pm
January 14 *Northern Colorado, 2:05 pm
January 19 *at Sacramento State, TBA
January 21 *at Portland State, TBA
January 26 *Idaho, 7:05 pm
January 28 *Eastern Washington, 2:05 pm
February 4 *at Montana, TBA
February 9 *at Northern Arizona, TBA
February 11 *at Southern Utah, TBA
February 16 *Portland State, 7:05 pm
February 18 *Sacramento State, 2:05 pm
February 25 *Montana, 7:05 pm
March 2 *at Idaho State, TBA
March 4 *at Weber State, TBA
March 6-12 at Big Sky Tourney at Reno
