STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State Men's Basketball head coach Billy Gillispie announced the Texans non-conference slate for the 2025-26 season on Wednesday morning.
 
For the first time in the Division I era, the Texans will have 18 total home games in the brand new EECU Center across the preseason, non-conference and conference slates. The 130-million-dollar facility will open with a pair of exhibition games against TCU (Oct. 19) and East Texas A&M (Oct. 25), formerly known as Texas A&M – Commerce.
 
The brand new, state of the art facility will host its first men's basketball regular season contest on Nov. 8 against Texas A&M – Corpus Christi. Tarleton State will reignite its rivalry against a trio of former Lone Star Conference foes in the EECU Center. The Texans will play a pair of the most common opponents in program history, Angelo State and Midwestern State. Angelo State is the men's basketball program's most played opponent with 81 total meetings, followed behind Midwestern State with 79 meetings.
 
The 2025-26 non-conference campaign will be highlighted by trips to four Power Four conference opponents. For the second consecutive season, the Texans will head to both SMU (Nov. 3) and Baylor (Nov.14). For the first time in program history, Tarleton State will hit the road and head to LSU (Nov. 5) and Cincinnati (Dec. 1).
 
" The entire schedule is as good as it gets and should be appealing to everyone," said head coach Billy Gillispie. "Our non-conference road schedule will be daunting and provide any challenge you could hope for as we try to make Tarleton State University a household name in the Division I basketball world and prepare our team to be a March Madness participant as is every team's goal. We begin on October 19 against TCU that should provide unmatched enthusiasm as we usher in a new facility that everyone will be glad to call home."
 
Season tickets are on sale now, with single game tickets released at a later date. There will now be options to buy men's basketball season tickets only and a combined season ticket package for all Tarleton State men's basketball and women's basketball home games. Season ticket packages for both programs begin at $125, with just Men's basketball season tickets beginning at $100.
 
Deposits can be placed by calling the Tarleton State Ticket Office at 254-968-1832 or online. Returning season ticket holders can place their deposit here, and new season ticket holders can place their deposit here.
 
The first two men's basketball contests in the brand-new EECU Center will be a pair of exhibitions. As previously announced, the first Power Four opponent will be traveling to Stephenville to take on the Texans in the first basketball game held at the EECU Center on Oct. 19 at 3 p.m. The next Saturday, the Texans will host East Texas A&M on Oct. 25 for their second and final exhibition game of the season.
 
For the second season in a row, the Texans will open the season on the first Monday of the season at SMU. It will mark the fifth time Tarleton State has matched up against a member of the ACC. Following the date with the Mustangs, the squad will head to Baton Rouge to take on LSU on Nov. 5. The Wednesday night meeting will be the season opener for the Tigers in their first-ever meeting with the Texans in program history.
 
The Texans will then return home for their home opener against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Nov. 8. It will mark the first time in the D1 era the two programs will meet, with the Texans owning a 4-2 record all before 1988. Tarleton State is 4-1 in the Division I era in regular season openers. The Saturday contest will be the first men's basketball regular season contest inside the new EECU Center. Three days later, the Texans will host Merrimack for the first meeting in program history on Nov. 11.
 
The Texans will close the second week of the season with their third Power Four conference opponent of the season, Baylor. The Texans will take on Scott Drew and his Baylor Bears for the second consecutive season in Waco at the Foster Pavilion on Nov. 14. The first of four former opponents of the Texans will head to the EECU Center on Monday, Nov. 17. The Angelo State Rams will take on the Texans for the program's most 82^nd time. The Texans knocked off the Rams in 2015 and 2016 South Central Regional Championship games to reach the Elite Eight in back-to-back years. The Texans will then hit the road for the final time in the month of November at Rice. The Texans will take on the Owls in Tudor Fieldhouse. It will mark the first meeting of the Division I era for the two programs.
 
Tarleton State will host former Lone Star Conference rival Midwestern State for the first time since 2019 on Nov. 28, the day after Thanksgiving. The Texans have won the past eight meetings against the Mustangs dating to Feb. 3, 2016. The Purple and White have also won the past five matchups against MSU in Stephenville. Tarleton State will play its final Power Four opponent on the first day of December at Cincinnati (Dec. 1). The game will be the first time the Texans have ever played a men's basketball contest in the state of Ohio.
 
Tarleton State will return home for a pair of games against Howard Payne (Dec. 3) and Cameron (OK) (Dec. 7). The Texans have an all-time 33-12 record against Cameron and are 20-2 against Aggies the in Stephenville. The squad will close their non-conference slate with a road contest at Mississippi Valley State and back at home on Dec. 19 against Florida A&M. The Texans knocked off Florida A&M, 70-60 in their final game of the non-conference schedule a season ago.
 
The EECU Center will offer seating for nearly 10,000 for concerts and up to 8,000 for basketball games. The $130 million two-story multipurpose arena will host events including NCAA Division I basketball, symposiums, conferences, concerts and conventions
 
The Texans released their first conference schedule inside the EECU Center earlier this summer. Game times and single game ticket information will be released at a later date. Tickets are on sale now for the Texans first exhibition at the EECU Center against TCU on Oct. 19.
 
Full non-conference schedule
Sunday, Oct. 19 vs. TCU *exhibition
Saturday, Oct. 25 vs. East Texas A&M *exhibition
Monday, Nov. 3 at SMU
Wednesday, Nov. 5 at LSU
Saturday, Nov. 8 vs. Texas A&M-CC
Tuesday, Nov. 11 vs. Merrimack
Friday, Nov. 14 at Baylor
Monday, Nov. 17 vs. Angelo State
Thursday, Nov. 20 at Rice
Friday, Nov. 28 vs. Midwestern State
Monday, Dec. 1 at Cincinnati
Wednesday, Dec. 3 vs. Howard Payne
Sunday, Dec. 7 vs. Cameron
Tuesday, Dec. 16 at Mississippi Valley State
Friday, Dec. 19 vs. Florida A&M