SACRAMENTO -- Sacramento State second-year head men's basketball coach Mike Bibby announced the 2026-27 schedule today.

The schedule includes 32 games, comprised of 17 at home and 15 on the road. After 30 years in the Big Sky Conference, the Hornets will join the Big West Conference this season, and will play 22 league games.

The regular season begins with a home game vs. Jessup on Nov. 2, and concludes on March 6 at Cal Poly. The Big West Tournament will take place March 10-13 in Henderson, Nev., followed by the first day of the NCAA Tournament on March 16.

The Hornets begin the season with three of their first four games at home, including a matchup with rival UC Davis on Nov. 14 at Hornet Pavilion. 

Notables

• Sacramento State will play 22 Big West games (11 at home, 11 on the road). That is four more conference games than the Hornets are accustomed. In the Big Sky, the Hornets played 18 conference games. 

• Sacramento State's inaugural Big West game will take place on the road on Thursday, Dec. 3, at Cal State Fullerton. The Hornets will play two straight league games on the road (Dec. 5 at Utah Valley). The Hornets will then play four non-league games through Christmas before jumping back into Big West play for their first home game in the conference on New Year's Eve vs. CSUN. Beginning with that game vs. CSUN, the final 20 games of the season will come against Big West opposition.

• For the second straight season, the Hornets will play games at Hornet Pavilion on campus. The facility, which opened last year, was kind to Sacramento State. The Hornets went 10-4 in their new home (6-3 in league), and the 10 home victories were the most for the program since the 2019-20 season. The average attendance of 2,758 fans per home game set a school record, and was the third best mark in the Big Sky. 

• The team's 17 home games this season are the most in program history. In fact, prior to this season, the Hornets had never played more than 15 home games (1948-pres.).

• The Hornets' game vs. UC Davis on Nov. 14 will be the 124th installment of the rivalry which dates back to 1948. This season will also be the first time the Aggies have played in Hornet Pavilion. Overall, the Hornets are 73-50 in the series, including 41-17 at home.

• The Hornets open the season at home vs. Jessup on Nov. 2, followed by a road game at Santa Clara on Nov. 7 (first trip to Santa Clara since 2022), and back-to-back home games vs. Menlo on Nov. 10, and the UC Davis game on Nov. 14. Then comes a season-high tying four-game road trip that includes Stanford on Nov. 19 (seventh matchup against Stanford - all on the road), Presbyterian (Nov. 28), and the first Big West games at Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 3) and Utah Valley (Dec. 5).

• The Hornets' road games at Santa Clara and Stanford are part of the Palm Springs Holiday Classic Multi-Team Event (MTE). Sacramento State's road game at Presbyterian is a return trip when the Hornets hosted the Blue Hose a year ago as part of an MTE. This season marks the fifth straight year Sacramento State will compete in an MTE.

• Sacramento State will host Bethesda (Dec. 9) and Pepperdine (Dec. 13) before a matchup at Fresno State (Dec. 19), and back home vs. Pacific on Dec. 22. It will mark the Hornets' first home game vs. Pacific since 2015.

• After the Christmas holiday, the Hornets resume conference play with home tilts vs. CSUN on Dec. 31, and CSU Bakersfield on Jan. 2. The Big West is a 12-member league in 2026-27 comprised of Sacramento State, Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, California Baptist, CSU Bakersfield, CSUN, Long Beach State, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and Utah Valley.

• The Hornets have a season-long four-game homestand that runs from Jan. 14-23 and includes matchups with Cal Poly (14th), UC Santa Barbara (16th), UC Riverside (21st) and California Baptist (23rd). That is immediately followed by a four-game road trip that stretches from Jan. 28-Feb. 6. That 10-day stretch includes matchups at CSU Bakersfield (28th), CSUN (30th), California Baptist (4th) and UC Riverside (6th).

• There are zero opponents on this season's schedule that Sacramento State has not played before. The Hornets have played Presbyterian just once (a 64-62 win a year ago at Hornet Pavilion), the least amount of games against any opponent on the schedule. The next closest is Pepperdine - the Hornets will play the Waves for just the fourth time.

• Every Big West game will take place on a Thursday or Saturday. In fact, of the team's 32 games overall, 27 will come on a Thursday or Saturday. The Hornets never play on a Friday the entire season. They play a pair of Tuesday games, and once each on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday.

• Of Sacramento State's 17 home games, 14 of those will start at 7 p.m. The only exceptions are UC Davis on Nov. 14 (5 p.m.), Pepperdine on Dec. 13 (2 p.m.), and CSUN on Dec. 31 (TBA).

• The Hornets have played their conference tournament each of the last eight seasons in Boise, Idaho, when they were members of the Big Sky. That will change this season as the Big West plays its conference tournament in Henderson, Nev., at Lee's Family Forum. This season will mark the sixth straight the Big West has played its tournament in Henderson.

• Of the 16 players on the roster, 11 are brand new to the program. The lone returners are guards Mikey Williams, Arman Madi, Romari Robinson, Taj Glover and Zach Anderson.

• Sacramento State has players from five different countries on its roster, including the United States (12), Brazil (1), Greece (1), Serbia (1) and Slovenia (1). Of those 12 Americans, nine different states are represented - Arizona (4), California (1), Florida (1), Georgia (1), Indiana (1), Missouri (1), Nevada (1), New Mexico (1) and New York (1).

• Senior Day will be Saturday, Feb. 27 vs. Long Beach State. The Hornets have four seniors on the roster - Saša Ciani, Osiris Grady, Larry Hughes II and Ridvan Tutic.

• The Hornets featured a high powered offense a year ago - the program's 2,408 total points, and average of 77.7 points per contest were both the top marks in Sacramento State's Div. I era (1991-pres.). The 77.7 ppg average was the most since the program's final season of Div. II in 1990-91 when the team averaged 79.9 ppg.

• One of the Hornets' newcomers, Larry Hughes II, is the son of former 13-year NBA veteran Larry Hughes. Both Hughes (8th overall) and Hornet head coach Mike Bibby (2nd overall) were selected among the top 10 picks of the 1998 NBA Draft. Hughes II isn't the only Hornet with a father that played in the NBA. Taj Glover's father, Dion, played six seasons in the NBA and was the 20th overall pick of the 1999 draft.

• Not only will the entire coaching staff return for its second season leading the Hornets, NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal will return for his second year as the team's general manager. His son, Shaqir, finished his collegiate career last season in a Sacramento State uniform. In fact, Shaqir was the only player on the Hornets' roster to start all 31 games a year ago, and won the State Farm College Slam Dunk Championship in April. He became the first Sacramento State player to win the slam dunk contest in the 37 years of the event's existence.