JOLIET, Ill. -- The University of St. Francis men's basketball team will open its 55th season of competition on Friday afternoon when the Fighting Saints travel to Grand Rapids, Mich. for a two-day tournament hosted by Aquinas College (Mich.).  The pair of games versus Aquinas and Saint Mary of the Woods College (Ind.) are two of 16 away contests that head coach Ryan Marks' club will undertake during the 2026-27 season.  As part of these away matchups, USF will travel to three visiting sites for exhibition games during the year, while playing host to 14 contests during the season, including its home opener on Nov. 14 versus NCAA Division III Eureka College.

St. Francis' three exhibition contests come on Nov. 2 against NCAA Division I University of Illinois-Chicago, followed by a Nov. 5 showdown against NCAA Division II Lewis University and on Dec. 3 when the Saints travel to the Bronx, N.Y. to take on NCAA Division I Fordham University.

USF will have a total of nine non-conference matchups in the months of November and December, highlighted with the team's participation in four non-conference tournaments, including the aforementioned Aquinas College Classic.  The USF-hosted Thanksgiving Classic features a second go-around with Aquinas on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and Marian University (Ind.) on Sunday, while the Madonna University Holiday Classic takes place Dec. 18-19 with games against Rochester Christian University (Mich.) and host Madonna University (Mich.).  The New Year's Classic takes place on the campus of USF on Dec. 30-31 with showings against Cornerstone University (Mich.) and Cumberland University (Tenn.).  Those games will close out the non-conference slate with the Saints taking on all Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference institutions during the entirety of 2027.

The 27-game schedule – minus the exhibitions – features 18 league contests with the Saints playing a home-and-away series with all nine other members in the conference which include Saint Xavier University, Judson University, Indiana University Northwest, Holy Cross College (Ind.), Olivet Nazarene University, Governors State University, Viterbo University (Wis.), Indiana University South Bend and Calumet College of St. Joseph (Ind.).

Both the CCAC regular-season and tournament champion earn the league's two conference bids to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round, which takes place March 12-13.  The CCAC Tournament is Feb. 23, Feb. 25 and Feb. 27.

The NAIA National Championships will again take place at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. March 18-23.

USF recorded its 16th consecutive double digit-win season one year ago when it went 23-8.  In league action, the Saints qualified for post season play after going 15-5 to finish in a tie for second place in league standings and later earned a bid to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round after capturing the 2026-27 CCAC Tournament championship where they ended their season to University of Indiana Wesleyan University.

For the complete schedule, go to Schedule.

You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.