Men's Basketball Announces 2026-27 Non-Conference Schedule

[Halldan]

Men's Basketball Announces 2026-27 Non-Conference Schedule - Seton Hall University Athletics

South Orange, N.J. – Seton Hall men's basketball has announced its non-conference schedule for the upcoming 2026-27 season. The Pirates will face a challengi...

shupirates.com

South Orange, N.J. – Seton Hall men's basketball has announced its non-conference schedule for the upcoming 2026-27 season. The Pirates will face a challenging slate of 12 games, five of which will be played at Prudential Center in Newark and a pair inside Historic Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange. The Hall will also take part in the Baha Mar Championship on Nov. 19-20 with an opening round matchup against Big Ten foe Wisconsin.

The Pirates will square off with five NCAA Tournament qualifiers from a season ago, including a tough road test at Alabama who reached the Sweet 16 last season.

Season tickets for all games at Prudential Center, the five non-conference games and 10 BIG EAST games, are on sale now. This season marks Seton Hall's 20th season at the arena, annually recognized as one of the premier venues in the world. Fans can email [email protected], call (973) 275-4255 or submit a season ticket interest form to purchase. Tip times and the full 20-game BIG EAST schedule will be announced at a later date.



The Pirates boast a revitalized roster entering year five of the Shaheen Holloway era, looking to build off a 21-win campaign which marked the third-best turnaround in all of college basketball last season.

For the fourth consecutive season, Seton Hall and Saint Peter's will meet on college basketball's opening night on Nov. 2. The Pirates will then come to campus that following Thursday to face off against LIU (Nov. 5) inside Walsh Gym. The next two games come away from New Jersey, with The Hall playing a neutral site game against Charlotte (Nov. 9) inside the Palestra in Philadelphia. Next comes Seton Hall's trip to Tuscaloosa on Friday, Nov. 13 to face the Crimson Tide in the start of a home-and-home series.

The following week sees the Pirates travel down to Nassau, Bahamas to participate in the Baha Mar Championship. Their first matchup will be against Wisconsin on Nov. 19 at 8:30 p.m., with the second game coming against either NC State or Murray State the following night (Nov. 20). This will be Seton Hall's second ever trip to The Bahamas and its first since taking part in the Battle 4 Atlantis during the 2019-20 season.



Upon their return to the Garden State, the Pirates play each of their next four games at Prudential Center. Two matchups come during the week of Thanksgiving, the first being a matchup with New Hampshire (Nov. 24) followed by a date with Siena (Nov. 28). The following Friday sees Kansas State come to Newark (Dec. 4) to close a home-and-home series. The Pirates defeated the Wildcats in Manhattan, Kan. last season, 78-67.

After a battle with NJIT and former Pirate Grant Billmeier on Dec. 7, the Garden State Hardwood Classic renews itself in Piscataway on Saturday, Dec. 12. Seton Hall rolled to a victory over the Scarlet Knights a year ago in Newark, 81-59, and will be looking to win at Jersey Mike's Arena for the second time in its last three trips. This will mark the 77th meeting all-time between the fierce in-state rivals, with the Pirates holding the edge in the series, 43-33.

Non-conference play wraps up for Seton Hall back on campus inside Historic Walsh Gymnasium on Dec. 15 with a matchup against UNC Greensboro. All told, The Hall will face just three opponents in the non-conference portion of the season who finished under .500 in their respective leagues.

Schedule

2026-27 Men's Basketball Schedule - Seton Hall University Athletics

The official 2026-27 Men's Basketball schedule for the Seton Hall University Pirates

shupirates.com

 

[jack 1970]

Like it.10-2 with Alabama and Wisconsin only losses.

 

[HallGuy2323]

Extremely weak. Come on with this. I guess Shaheen plans on winning 14 Big East games if he wants to make the dance.

 

[SPK145]

Like it.10-2 with Alabama and Wisconsin only losses.

Maybe 3 losses, Rutgers will be a very tough game at their place.

 

[joeyklings]

I’m obviously much lower on this team. Sign up for 10-2 or 9-3 immediately

 

[joeyklings]

@HallGuy2323 what is weak about this? Bama has been a powerhouse recently, Wisconsin good, Murray St/Nc State good, Rutgers/Kansas St winnable games against P5 schools. I wouldn’t have played Charlotte on a neutral court but could help w metrics.

 

[HallGuy2323]

cool, so 2 maybe 3 meaningful games out of 12. And that’s pretty strong to you? We once again are filling our schedule with the absolute lowest of D-1. Is it that difficult to schedule actual mid majors?

 

[joeyklings]

The home slate is pretty weak, imo. But you have 5 power 5 games or 4 and a really strong mid major. I can’t complain about that.

 

[lloyde dobler]

cool, so 2 maybe 3 meaningful games out of 12. And that’s pretty strong to you? We once again are filling our schedule with the absolute lowest of D-1. Is it that difficult to schedule actual mid majors?

I guess you count differently than the rest of us

 

[NIL BAD]

Any idea when the entire schedule will be dropped?

 

[Uncle Hectors Crab Farm]

I guess you count differently than the rest of us

more cats that don't know hoops or play weekly, but screaming their little johnny should not be riding the pine for a participation trophy. see cats at the Palestra

 

[HallGuy2323]

I guess you count differently than the rest of us

What are you talking about. 12 games. Alabama, Wisconsin, NC State. That’s 3 out of 12. You want to count again? Rutgers and Kansas State are at best equal to us. They are not needle movers despite big conference affiliation.

 

[Halldan]

This is an excellent schedule for us. We don't have FB money so we cannot schedule like a top 25 team. That plus when we play in the Big East most of our competition will have more money than us and in some cases much, much more. So that part of the schedule will be daunting.

I am amazed that some of our 'fans' don't understand that or maybe just don't want to understand it.

 

[Halldan]

 

[Halldan]

 

[HallGuy2323]

This is an excellent schedule for us. We don't have FB money so we cannot schedule like a top 25 team. That plus when we play in the Big East most of our competition will have more money than us and in some cases much, much more. So that part of the schedule will be daunting.

I am amazed that some of our 'fans' don't understand that or maybe just don't want to understand it.

So you’re accepting we can’t compete and need to operate at a lower level? Geez. What you’re saying is that playing the likes of Siena and LIU is comparable and a worthy opponent. And not only them but 8-10 times per season .

and to say the rest of us are “fans” as if it’s questionable because we don’t drool over everything the program does. Once again on your high horse.

 

[radecicco]

So you’re accepting we can’t compete and need to operate at a lower level? Geez. What you’re saying is that playing the likes of Siena and LIU is comparable and a worthy opponent. And not only them but 8-10 times per season .

and to say the rest of us are “fans” as if it’s questionable because we don’t drool over everything the program does. Once again on your high horse.

We’re playing five P5 teams plus Murray State (maybe) and Charlotte. That’s solid. If you’d prefer us to play a UCONN level OOC, then pony up UCONN level money.

 

[HallGuy2323]

We’re playing five P5 teams plus Murray State (maybe) and Charlotte. That’s solid. If you’d prefer us to play a UCONN level OOC, then pony up UCONN level money.

No I’d prefer us to play teams in the 75-175 range. Playing teams in the 275-350 range is utterly useless. More than 2 of them ruins your strength of schedule. And we’re playing 7 of them.

 

[Fishjam]

Its a decent schedule that clears the low bar of 5 meaningful games and a decent neutral site game vs an AAC team The risk is if a couple of those 5 teams stink (like last year) it hurts our metrics.

5 Power Games is the minimum for a BE team. I'd like to see us challenge ourselves with a 6th game. The neutral game vs Charlotte will be more of a challenge than the other 6 cupcakes and its inline with what we need, a revenue producing game at a neutral site. I'd prefer we were playing Syracuse or a Notre Dame or Maryland or some other team who will bring fans in a NYC area event that will drive revenue and be a good opponent, but Charlotte has a chance to be a solid team with a new coach and solid transfer class.

You look at other BE teams . UConn and St.John's are in a class by themselves with Nova close behind. They play national schedules with only a few cupcakes. Teams like Creighton, Marquette and Providence are what we should aspire to. They play 6, sometimes 7 challenging games. The rest of the league - Xavier, SH, GT, Butler and DePaul are generally similar with 5 power games and maybe 1 decent game then 6-7 cupcakes.

Its the way of college basketball. Your schedule has to satisfy several categories:

1 - Have a chance to produce decent metrics for NCAAT
2 - Have enough home games to bring in revenue for season tickets
3 - Have at least 1 HM home game for fans
4 - Must be judged from a revenue producing/saving POV
5 - Satisfy what the coach wants with a mix of easy tuneups and difficult games to challenge the team before BE play

 

[SPK145]

The schedule is about average, should be tougher than last year.

 

[radecicco]

No I’d prefer us to play teams in the 75-175 range. Playing teams in the 275-350 range is utterly useless. More than 2 of them ruins your strength of schedule. And we’re playing 7 of them.

Fair point but the strength of the BE will offset that. And as another poster noted, this schedule is not dissimilar than several other BE teams.

 

[sobo1]

I think this is a great schedule. Context is important. We have one returning player and will be predicted to finish 9th-10th in most preseason rankings.

 

[HallGuy2323]

Fair point but the strength of the BE will offset that. And as another poster noted, this schedule is not dissimilar than several other BE teams.

Yeah but what we’re doing is essentially going all in on Big East results in order to make the tourney. Thats my problem. We’re thinking small and hoping big. Not a great way to do things.

 

[Hall1996]

I think it is a good schedule for who / where we are as a team. We are not title contenders like UConn /SJU. Improved over last few years, hopefully have a good year and then schedule continues to improve.

 

[CaptBob]

How do you plan a season's schedule when you have no idea who or what you will be able to assemble for a team? Two weeks before school opens & there are still question marks. Welcome to the new reality of college sports.

 

[dehere23]

The roster uncertainty is what makes scheduling hard.

My view is that you need real OOC games to generate revenue and fan interest. Two areas we are lacking. Plus, those games often don’t hurt you if you lose them, but help if you win them.

If folks think going 11-2 against a bunch of cupcakes, 1/2 legit opponents, and some high majors who aren’t good helps your team, well I don’t think it does in this era unless you are going to run through your league.

I understood it last year to an extent because of the embarrassment of 24-25. But we overperformed and still weren’t close to the bubble ultimately. Part of that was the BE being down but part was our OOC resume wasn’t good.

if Sha thinks this is his best team, as Dan alluded, I don’t see why we wouldn’t try to replace at least one of the cupcakes (ideally 2) with real opponents.

 

[lloyde dobler]

The roster uncertainty is what makes scheduling hard.

My view is that you need real OOC games to generate revenue and fan interest. Two areas we are lacking. Plus, those games often don’t hurt you if you lose them, but help if you win them.

If folks think going 11-2 against a bunch of cupcakes, 1/2 legit opponents, and some high majors who aren’t good helps your team, well I don’t think it does in this era unless you are going to run through your league.

I understood it last year to an extent because of the embarrassment of 24-25. But we overperformed and still weren’t close to the bubble ultimately. Part of that was the BE being down but part was our OOC resume wasn’t good.

if Sha thinks this is his best team, as Dan alluded, I don’t see why we wouldn’t try to replace at least one of the cupcakes (ideally 2) with real opponents.

Who are two teams that you would consider real opponents? Someone from the A10?

 

[joeyklings]

Unfortunately beating up cupcakes does help nowadays with metrics.

 

[dehere23]

Who are two teams that you would consider real opponents? Someone from the A10?

I don’t know other comparables offhand, but saw Creighton recently. New coach. Coming off a down year. Playing Iowa in Des Moines; Nebraska, Gonzaga, Michigan, either Miami or TCU, plus other potential games against high majors in the Players Era (a revenue producing tournament).

And I’m not even mentioning their game at K-State because I have no clue if they will be decent or suck like last year.

Compare that to ours. And I’m sure there are many others we could cite.

I get why Sha wants to schedule like this, so he can rack up Ws going into league play while he figures out his team. I get why people here defend it, because many will defend anything he does, plus we can have a very good record heading into league play and they can then troll anyone here who questions anything about the team. Like post Maui in the OOC last season, which turned out to be fools gold in large part.

I don’t think it’s the right strategy. Especiallly in Year 5 for a team that our insiders and apparently HC think it’s the best of the Sha era.

 

[dehere23]

Unfortunately beating up cupcakes does help nowadays with metrics.

If you kill them AND rack up enough quality wins over good opponents. Otherwise it’s last year.

 

[HallGuy2323]

If you kill them AND rack up enough quality wins over good opponents. Otherwise it’s last year.

Exactly. Our season now essentially comes down to either:

A - Beat Alabama

or

B - Beat Wisconsin and NC State and have no hiccups with the other OOC teams. And while many of you will think this is the likeliest path, it resembles last year and we weren’t on the bubble at all. So it’s gonna have to be A or C.

or

C - Win at least 12 games in the Big East.


Anybody confident in that? This is what happens when you schedule with no margin for error.

 

[Seton75]

This is an excellent schedule for us. We don't have FB money so we cannot schedule like a top 25 team. That plus when we play in the Big East most of our competition will have more money than us and in some cases much, much more. So that part of the schedule will be daunting.

I am amazed that some of our 'fans' don't understand that or maybe just don't want to understand it.

For so many posters, if we do it, it stinks.

 

[joeyklings]

It’s pretty simple win every home game, beat Charlotte on a neutral, splitting Bahamas, split Rutgers/bama. Is it a perfect schedule? No. But it’s a lot better than you are giving it credit for. @HallGuy2323

 

[HallGuy2323]

It’s pretty simple win every home game, beat Charlotte on a neutral, splitting Bahamas, split Rutgers/bama. Is it a perfect schedule? No. But it’s a lot better than you are giving it credit for. @HallGuy2323

That’s not going to cut it at all. You think 2 decent OOC wins is going to impress the committee? We saw it all last year after beating the dregs and the season went on. Our hypothetical positions/rankings kept going backwards or staying the same while others moved up.

 

[joeyklings]

You’re forgetting the big east should be much improved. You realize playing Rhode Island instead of New Hampshire isn’t gonna make or break us.

 

[HallGuy2323]

You’re forgetting the big east should be much improved. You realize playing Rhode Island instead of New Hampshire isn’t gonna make or break us.

Which brings me back to my post with 3 options. So you agree then.

 

[Seton75]

That’s not going to cut it at all. You think 2 decent OOC wins is going to impress the committee? We saw it all last year after beating the dregs and the season went on. Our hypothetical positions/rankings kept going backwards or staying the same while others moved up.

We lost the 2 dp games and that away CU game. Dont lose those games and we were in.

 

[HallGuy2323]

We lost the 2 dp games and that away CU game. Dont lose those games and we were in.

We lost them for a reason and we’ll have bad conference losses again. Just the way it goes

 

[Halldan]

Read Jerry's take on the schedule

https://www.app.com/story/sports/college/2026/03/23/seton-hall-basketball-2026-offseason-transfer-portal-and-schedule-news/89274883007/