Men’s Basketball Open Season in Canada This Weekend

The University of Central Oklahoma men’s basketball team will start their 2025-26 season in Canada over Halloween weekend.

The Bronchos leave Wednesday, Oct. 29, to start their season in the Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Tipoff Classic in British Columbia, Canada. Central Oklahoma will play three games from Oct.31 to Nov. 2. 

The Invitational, hosted by Simon Fraser University, has invited 12 basketball teams- six men’s and six women’,s including the UCO men’s team. This is the first time the UCO Men’s Basketball program will play outside of the U.S.  

“It’s a great opportunity for the university to showcase itself,” said UCO men’s head basketball coach Bob Hoffman.  

With the beginning of the season around the corner and headed to a different country to play the first few games of the year, it’s going to be a different atmosphere for the guys.

“We’re gonna use it as a retreat also, we always have a retreat at the beginning of the year,” Hoffman said. 

The Bronchos were picked third out of the 14 teams in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Preseason Coaches Poll headed into this year’s season. 

“I love our schedule. I like our team and we’ll be right there.” Hoffman said. 

The men play their first home game of the season against Southwestern Oklahoma State on Nov. 19 at Hamilton Field House, with tipoff to begin at 7 p.m.

This story was edited to correct the name of player 11 in the photo above.