The Canisius men’s basketball program has revealed this year’s schedule for nonconference games. The complete schedule will be made public when the MAAC announces this year’s conference schedule sometime later this month.

It’s an exciting lineup of games for the Griffs, who square off with four local teams this season as well as nationally ranked Syracuse University. 

While the true opening day for Canisius is Friday, November 12, the team has an exhibition game with D-III Buffalo State on Tuesday the 9th (7 p.m., Koessler Athletic Center).

After hosting the Bengals, the Griffs kick off the season with a men’s and women’s double-header at the KAC on Nov. 12. The men face WNY rival St. Bonaventure, while the women host Kent State. Start time for the men is listed at 8:30 p.m., but could potentially be altered by the women’s game, which starts at 6.

Sunday, Nov. 14 marks arguably the most hyped game of the year, as the Griffs travel to the Carrier Dome for a contest with national powerhouse Syracuse. Game time is set for 2 p.m.

The Blue and Gold continue their slate against local talent as they host the University at Buffalo on Tuesday, Nov. 23. Canisius knocked off the Bulls in last season’s meeting at UB, 73-71. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.

The Griffs will also have at least two games this season with Niagara as part of their MAAC conference schedule. Game dates and times are TBA.

Canisius will once again participate in the ESPN BracketBuster series, which pits two schools against each other who would not typically meet. While head coach Tom Parrotta personally is not a fan of the BracketBuster games, his Griffs are 4-1 all-time in the series. In last year’s game, Canisius beat James Madison at home, so this year’s contest will be an away game. Opponent and date and TBA.

The rest of the nonconference schedule looks like this:

Home- Eastern Michigan, 11/20, 2 p.m.; St. Francis, 12/10, 7 p.m.; Northwestern State, 12/29, 7 p.m.
Road- Binghamton, 11/30, 7 p.m.; Northwestern State, 12/19, 5 p.m.; Lamar, 12/22, 8 p.m.

The road games at Northwestern State and Lamar are part of the team’s winter trip. The games will be played in Louisiana and Texas, respectively.

Ticket information can be found here. Home games are free to all students with a valid college ID.