STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State Men's Basketball head coach Eric Haut has released the Texans non-conference schedule ahead of his first season at the helm of the program on Wednesday.

The Texans non-conference slate will feature a program Division I era-high 16 regular season games and a pair of exhibitions. In the regular season, the Texans will be split even with eight home games and eight road games, also D1 era records for the Texans. The Texans will be well-traveled this season with their eight road games meaning over 14,000 miles in travel for the Texans. This includes travel across five states outside of Texas.

Haut enters his first season at the helm of the Texans. His 16-player roster features four players from last season, 11 from the transfer portal and one 2026 high school graduate. The roster contains the fewest freshman and most transfer portal acquisitions in the Texans seven-year Division I era. 

"We're excited about the challenges our non-conference schedule presents and the opportunity it gives our team to grow early in the season," said coach Haut. "We've put together a schedule that will test us, expose areas where we need to improve, and prepare us for the demands of conference play. Every game will be an opportunity to compete, learn, and get better. We believe these experiences will help us build confidence, develop as a team, and have us battle-tested and ready when conference play arrives."

The Texans will start out the 2026-27 slate with a pair of exhibitions. After hosting East Texas A&M for an exhibition last year, the Texans will head to Commerce, Texas on Oct. 18 for their first of two exhibition contests. Their second will be at home in the EECU Center against Houston Christian on Sunday, Oct. 24. The pair of exhibitions will be the only two games before the regular season for the Texans in the month of October.

For the first time since 2020, the Texans will open their regular season campaign at home. The Purple and White will open their season in the EECU Center for the first time since the building was opened in 2025. Tarleton State will host Cameron for the second-consecutive season, a former Lone Star Conference foe. After the battle with the Aggies, the Texans will hit the road with their first of two trips to California this year. The Texans will take on San Diego on Nov. 6, their first meeting against the Terreros. After the date out west, the Purple and White will return home for a pair of home contests against UT Dallas (Nov. 10) and Alcorn State (Nov. 13).

After opening the season with three of their first four contests at home, the Texans will then embark on four-straight road games to end the month of November. Tarleton State will head out to Iowa to take on Drake on Nov. 16 before heading to California for the second and final time this year. The Texans will take on their first of two Power Four opponents of the season with a Nov. 19 tilt at USC. Tarleton State will then play once before Thanksgiving traveling out to Ogden, Utah to take on Weber State on Nov. 24. It will mark the third meeting in the series with Weber State and the second in Utah. The series is currently tied with one win apiece. The Texans will end November and their four-game road trip on Sunday, Nov. 29 at Texas Southern.  

The Texans will be busy again in December with seven of their final eight non-conference matchups in the final month of the calendar year. The Purple and White will host Randall University on Dec. 2 in the EECU Center. The Texans will then head out to take on the ACC's Pittsburgh Panthers in their second and final Power Four matchup of the season on Dec. 5. Tarleton State's last Power Four victory came against the ACC's Boston College in 2022. The Texans will then head back to Stephenville for a pair of home matchups against UNT Dallas (Dec. 8) and Missouri State (Dec. 12). 

Tarleton State's final four non-conference tilts will be against the ASUN in a UAC-ASUN battle. The Texans will head out on the road just before Christmas to take on Florida Gulf Coast (Dec. 19) and Stetson (Dec. 21). The final two games of the Texans non-con slate will be held in the EECU Center against West Florida (Dec. 28) and North Florida (Jan. 2).

The Texans 16-game UAC schedule was announced earlier in the year and is set to begin for the Texans at home against Central Arkansas on Jan. 6. Tip times and promotions will be announced at a later date.

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