The Prairie View A&M men's basketball team will open the season Friday, Nov. 9 at Santa Clara, as part of a 26-game regular season schedule.
 
The Panthers again will be on the road for the majority of the non-conference schedule, as Byron Smith enters his third full season as head coach.
 
"Our non-conference schedule is challenging but favorable in terms of where we think we can be when we go into these various arenas," Smith said. "We have the talent to compete, but it will come down to our preparation, our approach, and our execution."
 
Following the opener, the Panthers return to the Lone Star State with a mid-week contests at Baylor (Mon. Nov. 12) and Texas-Rio Grande Valley (Wed. Nov. 14) before a weekend contest at Lamar (Sat. Nov. 17).
 
PVAMU will spend Thanksgiving week on an Eastern swing at UNC Greensboro (Mon. Nov. 19), East Carolina (Wed. Nov. 21), and Georgia Tech (Fri. Nov. 23).
 
In December, Prairie View A&M will play at Murray State (Sat. Dec. 1), Louisiana Tech (Tue. Dec. 4), Louisiana Lafayette (Tue. Dec. 11), Seattle (Thurs. Dec. 20), and Winthrop (Dec. 29).
 
The final non-conference game will be the home opener Mon. Jan. 2 against Huston Tillotson before opening league play at Southern (Sat. Jan. 5) and Alcorn (Mon. Jan. 7). The SWAC home opener will be Sat. Jan. 12 vs. Texas Southern, the first of a three-game homestand that will also feature games vs. Jackson St. (Sat. Jan. 19) and Grambling St. (Sat. Jan. 21).
 
PVAMU will then play at Miss. Valley St. (Sat. Jan. 26) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Mon. Jan. 28) before ending the first half of the conference season hosting Alabama A&M (Sat. Feb. 2) and Alabama St. (Mon. Feb. 4).
 
The second half of SWAC play opens with a three-game road trip at Texas Southern (Sat. Feb. 9), at Jackson St. (Sat. Feb. 16), and at Grambling St. (Mon. Feb. 18). The Panthers will then play four of the final six games at home to end the regular season. After hosting Miss. Valley St. (Sat. Feb. 23) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Mon. Feb. 25), PVAMU will travel to Alabama A&M (Sat. Mar. 2) and Alabama St. (Mon. Mar. 4) before hosting Southern (Thurs. Mar. 7) and Alcorn (Sat. Mar. 9).
 
The top four teams in the SWAC standings will host first-round tournament games on campus on Tues. March 12, before heading to Birmingham's Fair Park Arena for the semifinals Fri-Sat. March 15-16.
 

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