COMMERCE – The Southland Conference portion of the 2025-26 schedule was released on Wednesday morning for the East Texas A&M University men's basketball team.
 
The 2025-26 season sees a new scheduling format in the Southland as all 12 teams are scheduled to play 22 games each, which is the most of any conference in NCAA Division I. Once again, men's basketball games will be played on Saturdays and Mondays during January-March, while four games coming for the Lions in December.
 
The first conference game of the season for East Texas A&M comes at two-time defending Southland champion and NCAA Tournament participant, McNeese, on December 12. The Lions then play at Southeastern on December 15.
 
The Lions host SFA and Lamar to close out 2025 on December 29 and December 31, respectively. The first week of January sees the Lions playing at Nicholls on January 3 and at New Orleans on January 12.
 
After hosting UTRGV on January 10 and A&M-Corpus Christi on January 12, the Lions head on a four-game road swing to HCU (January 17), UIW (January 19), Northwestern State (January 24), and at Lamar (January 26).
 
Seven of the next eight games come on Hunt Regional Healthcare court for the Lions as they host Nicholls on January 31, New Orleans on February 2, and Northwestern State on February 7, before playing at SFA on February 9.
 
The final stretch of home games in the regular season come against McNeese (February 14), Southeastern (February 16), UIW (February 21), and HCU (February 23).
 
The Lions travel down south to UTRGV on February 28 and A&M-Corpus Christi on March 2 to close out the regular season. 
 
The Southland Conference Tournament returns to Lake Charles, Louisiana, for the fourth straight year. The eight-team tournament runs from March 8 through March 11 at the Legacy Center.
 
East Texas A&M is eligible for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the Division I era this season. The NCAA Tournament begins on March 17 with the Final Four set to played in Indianapolis on April 4-6.
 
2025-26 LION MEN'S BASKETBALL SLC SCHEDULE

Date	Opponent	Site
Dec. 12	at McNeese	Lake Charles, La.
Dec. 15	at Southeastern	Hammond, La.
DEC. 29	SFA	COMMERCE
DEC. 31	LAMAR	COMMERCE
Jan. 3	at Nicholls	Thibodaux, La.
Jan. 5	at New Orleans	New Orleans
JAN. 10	UTRGV	COMMERCE
JAN. 12	A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI	COMMERCE
Jan. 17	at HCU	Houston
Jan. 19	at UIW	San Antonio
Jan. 24	at Northwestern State	Natchitoches, La.
Jan. 26	at Lamar	Beaumont
JAN. 31	NICHOLLS	COMMERCE
FEB. 2	NEW ORLEANS	COMMERCE
FEB. 7	NORTHWESTERN STATE	COMMERCE
Feb. 9	at SFA	Nacogdoches
FEB. 14	MCNEESE	COMMERCE
FEB. 16	SOUTHEASTERN	COMMERCE
FEB. 21	UIW	COMMERCE
FEB. 23	HCU	COMMERCE
Feb. 28	at UTRGV	Edinburg
March 2	at A&M-Corpus Christi	Corpus Christi
March 8-11	SLC Tournament	Lake Charles, La.
March 17-18	NCAA Tournament-First Four	Dayton, Ohio
March 19-22	NCAA Tournament-First & Second Rounds	TBA
March 27-30	NCAA Tournament-Sweet 16 & Elite Eight	TBA
April 4-6	NCAA Men's Final Four	Indianapolis