STEPHENVILLE, Texas —Tarleton State Men's Basketball in conjunction with the United Athletic Conference announced its 2026-27 conference slate on Wednesday.
 
Tarleton State will embark on its first season as part of the UAC in November, with conference play slated to begin on Jan. 6. The UAC consists of nine teams for men's basketball. Tarleton State joins Abilene Christian and UT Arlington as the three members of the WAC to join the newly-formed UAC. New conference opponents that also officially joined the UAC on July 1^st as well are: Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, Little Rock, North Alabama and West Georgia.
 
First-year head coach Eric Haut will lead the Texans in their inaugural season in the UAC. The Texans new leader will also guide the program through their second season in the EECU Center after it made its debut last season. Haut has filled the Texans roster with 10 newcomers and four returners from the 2025-26 season. Of the 10 newcomers, nine were brought in through the transfer portal, and one will be the only freshman on the 2026-27 roster. Haut has established an older roster with 11 of his 14 players as upperclassmen.
 
"This is an exciting day for our program as we release our conference schedule and embark on our inaugural season in the United Athletic Conference," said Haut. "The UAC is a very competitive basketball conference filled with outstanding programs, great coaches, and talented student-athletes. We look forward to the challenge and the opportunity to compete in the months ahead."
 
Each squad will play a total of 16 UAC contests, with each team playing the other eight teams once on the road and once at home. The schedule will be conducted over nine weeks with 18 total play dates. Each team will have two bye dates at some point in their schedule. Differing from the WAC, games will be played on Wednesday and Saturday of each week. After the Texans first six years competing at the Division I level, the team has played 184 total contests. Saturday is the most common day played by the Texans with 58 total matchups and the Purple and White boast a 29-29 record. Wednesdays are the third most common day of the week to be played on with the Texans owning a 10-9 record.
 
Contrary to the WAC schedule in each of the past three seasons, the men's and women's schedules are completely independent of one another and do not feature the same opponents on the same days at different locations. Instead, this year of the Texan men's eight home UAC games, five will feature doubleheaders with the women's team playing a different program on the same day, game times will be announced at a later date. Additionally, the Texan men will be playing as part of a doubleheader in five of their eight road tilts.
 
The Texans are slated to open their UAC schedule with a pair of home games in the first week. Tarleton State will host Central Arkansas in their inaugural UAC matchup on Jan. 6 in the EECU Center. Tarleton State will conclude the week with another home tilt against Little Rock on Saturday, Jan. 9. Saturday will be the first UAC doubleheader of the season with the women's team hosting Eastern Kentucky as well. Tarleton State will hit the road for a full week twice this season with the first coming the second week of the season. The Purple and White's first UAC road game is scheduled for Jan. 13 at Eastern Kentucky. The Texans will stay on the road to play Austin Peay to end their first UAC road trip. Both road contests will be a part of a doubleheader with the home institution's women's team playing a different opponent as well.
 
After their first bye date on Wednesday, Jan. 20, the Texans play their third and final UAC road tilt of January. The Texans will head to the state of Arkansas to take on Central Arkansas on Jan. 23. The final week of January features a pair of home contests against West Georgia (Jan. 27) and the second and final matchup against Austin Peay (Jan. 30). The Wednesday tilt will be the second home doubleheader of the season with the women's team taking on North Alabama.
 
Tarleton State opens February with their second bye date on Feb. 3 before heading to Moody Coliseum to take on familiar opponent Abilene Christian on Feb. 6. The Texans' sixth week of conference play begins with a doubleheader on Wednesday hosting North Alabama with the women hosting Central Arkansas. The Texans will then hit the road for their second game of the week on Saturday, Feb. 13 at UT Arlington, another doubleheader, their last different opponent of the UAC schedule.
 
The Texans seventh week is also split with Central Arkansas as part of a doubleheader on the road (Feb. 17) and Eastern Kentucky at home (Feb.20). The Feb. 20 matchup features the fourth doubleheader of the year with the women taking on West Georgia. The fifth and final doubleheader is set for Feb. 24 with the men's squad hosting Abilene Christian while the women host Austin Peay. The Texans final home game of the season is slated for Feb. 27 against UT Arlington.
 
The Purple and White will hit the road for the final pair of regular season games on their second full week road trip. The week will start off against West Georgia (March 3) in part of a doubleheader as well. The regular season finale set for March 6 at North Alabama. Both the UAC Men's Basketball Tournament and Women's Basketball Tournament will feature the top eight teams in the league March 10-14. The UAC Basketball Tournament location and bracket information will be announced at a later date.
 
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