Courtesy of Tennessee State Athletics
Tennessee State head men’s basketball coach, Brian “Penny” Collins, entering his sixth season at the helm, has announced the upcoming 2023-24 schedule, which features five non-league home games and a trip to the Northwest.
After one of the best seasons during Collins’ era, the Tigers will look to capitalize on the top home attendance from the previous season, hosting all six teams within a three-hour drive to campus.
“It was important to try to get as many home games as we could while our students are in town,” said Collins. “The atmosphere at Gentry is at another level when students are on campus.”
The Tigers will once again compete in a high-level MTE with an on-campus game against Pac-12 member Oregon. The Emerald Coast Classic (Nov. 24-25), hosted in Niceville, Florida at Northwest Florida State College, will feature the Tigers, Mercer, Southeastern Louisiana, and Western Michigan in the early day portion of the event.
TSU starts the season at home for the second straight year against Jefferson Street foe Fisk. Last season’s matchup was the sixth-highest attended game at the Gentry Center with 8,967 fans. The tightly contested game saw Tau emerge 85-75. The 2023 version will tip on November 6.
The Tigers conclude the opening week with Kentucky State, a D2 HBCU out of SIAC on Nov. 9.
“It was important to try to get as many home games as we could while our students are in town,” said Collins. “The atmosphere at Gentry is at another level when students are on campus.”
In their first trip to the Northwest region since the 2007-08 campaign when the Tigers visited Alaska for the Top of the World Classic, TSU will meet Portland on Nov. 15 followed by Oregon in the first round of the Emerald Coast Classic on Nov. 17.
A quick home game will be sandwiched between the Classic when Big Blue hosts Midway on Nov. 20.
“We’re really excited about the Emerald Coast Classic as we play against some quality mid-major programs,” said Collins. “Plus, spending Thanksgiving in Florida isn’t bad!”
Thanksgiving break on the sand in Florida pits TSU against Mercer followed by either Southeastern Louisiana or Western Michigan.
TSU rounds out November on the road at Alabama A&M on the 29th.
Seven games in the final month of 2023 bring quality opponents to Collins’ crew opening up with Austin Peay at the Gentry Center on Dec. 2. After a week layoff, it’s a local matchup against Lipscomb on Dec. 10.
The team will make a one-game trip to Lynchburg, Virginia to meet a tough Liberty opponent on Dec. 13. The final two nonconference tilts will pit the Tigers at home against Boyce on Dec. 16 and then on the road at Indiana State on the 19th.
A pair of OVC games kick off the final days of the year with home matches against UT Martin (Dec. 28) and Little Rock (Dec. 30).
Thursdays and Saturdays will rule the month of January as TSU hosts Lindenwood (Jan. 13) and Tennessee Tech (Jan. 18). It will be a month spent away from the Gentry with key road tilts at Southern Indiana (Jan. 4), Morehead State (Jan. 6), a first-time OVC meeting with Western Illinois (Jan. 20), and Eastern Illinois the following Saturday.
The push to the OVC Tournament stays mostly in Roar City with five home games including a three-game homestead as well as a three-game road swing.
TSU will conclude its yearly series with Morehead State (Feb. 1) and Southern Indiana (Feb. 3) to begin the Valentine month. TSU will hit the road for its next three games against Lindenwood (Feb. 8), a single-game series with SEMO (Feb. 10), and a Tuesday night meeting with Tennessee Tech on the 13th.
The mid-month home push sees three teams from the state of Illinois beginning with the Leathernecks from WIU (Feb. 17), Eastern Ill. (Feb. 22), and the lone meeting with SIUE on Feb. 24.
The OVC slate concludes how it started with road games at Little Rock (Feb. 29) and UT Martin (Mar. 2).
For the seventh season, the OVC Tournament makes its home at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. The 2024 championship dates will be March 6-9.
