Correspondent file photo / Robert Hayes. The outside of Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center on a cold, wintry night.

YOUNGSTOWN — The non-conference schedules for the Youngstown State men’s and women’s basketball teams are starting to come into focus.

The men are slated to open the 2026-27 season on Nov. 2 with a buy game at St. Bonaventure. The Penguins visited the Bonnies last year, where they dropped a tight contest 84-80. YSU will receive $78,000 for the game, according to a public records request.

The Penguins will then travel to Columbus to visit Ohio State on Nov. 6 for another buy game, where it will receive $95,000, according to a public records request.

“We’ll have some exciting games coming up,” YSU men’s coach Ethan Faulkner said. “We’ll play more buy games, high-major games than we’ve played in the past. We’ll play at least four of those, getting really close to getting those finalized.”

YSU will also begin a pair of home-and-home series against Central Michigan and Marshall. The Penguins will visit the Chippewas this year on a date still to be determined, and CMU will play the return game in Youngstown in 2027-28. YSU will host the Thundering Herd on Nov. 13 and play the return game in Huntington, W.Va., next season.

The Penguins are also slated to host a home multi-team event for the first time since the 2021-22 season. According to game contracts, the MTE involves four teams, including YSU, IU indy, Maryland Eastern Shore and William & Mary.

YSU will host W&M on Nov. 22, paying the Tribe $10,000, and then the Penguins will face UMES on Nov. 23, paying the Hawks $30,000.

“We’ll have more home games than we’ve had in the past, which excites me,” Faulkner said. “We won’t live on the road in November and December, traveling and playing as many road games. I think we’ll have four or five home games.

“We’re not a quad-4 game, and we’re not a quad-1, quad-2 game, which makes it difficult for the high-major teams because that’s what they’re looking for. The most difficult part is always trying to get home games, balancing your schedule with home and road games. The last couple years, I feel like we’ve lived on the road in the early non-conference. So we’re trying to correct that and get in front of our fans early and really engage our fanbase.”

YSU WOMEN TO VISIT HIGHLY-RANKED USC

Coming off a 25-win WNIT campaign and a runner-up finish in the Horizon League tournament, the YSU women are challenging themselves with their non-conference slate for 2026-27.

Thus far, the Penguins have games scheduled against national power USC, MAC foes Toledo, Akron and Buffalo and Division III opponent Hiram.

“Definitely want to challenge this group,” YSU women’s coach Melissa Jackson said. “It’s going to be a non-conference schedule that is going to test them, probably the toughest non-con I’ve ever put together for a program. But I think this group can handle it. We want to position ourselves to get better throughout the course of the non-con, so we’re ready to rock and roll for Horizon League play.”

YSU will open the season against nearby Hiram on Nov. 2, with the Penguins paying the Terriers $2,000, according to a public records request.

On Nov. 7, YSU will begin a home-and-home series with Buffalo. The Penguins will host the Bulls this winter and will make the return visit next season.

YSU will then complete the return games for the two home-and-home series with Akron and Toledo. The Penguins will visit the Rockets on Nov. 10 and host the Zips on Nov. 24. Last year, YSU fell to Toledo 69-65 at home and routed Akron 90-63 at James A. Rhodes Arena.

Perhaps the most notable game on YSU’s non-conference slate is a buy game in Los Angeles at USC on either Dec. 13 or 14. The Trojans will pay YSU $38,000 for the contest, according to a public records request.

USC is expected to be ranked in the preseason top-5 and contend for a national championship. The Trojans return stars JuJu Watkins and Jazzy Davidson, and added heralded freshman Saniyah Hall, a Lorain native and SPIRE Academy graduate. All three players are former No. 1 recruits.

Trojans head coach Lindsay Gottlieb was an assistant coach at Richmond (2003-05) during some of the years Jackson played college basketball for the Spiders (2000-04).

YSU’s non-conference slate is all aimed at preparing the Penguins to challenge for a Horizon League title once conference play begins in December, which includes an early home game against Green Bay.

“I think it’ll be another gauntlet in the Horizon League,” Jackson said. “We’re unique, I think, as a conference because we have meaningful conference games early in December. So I’ve been very mindful and intentional about our non-con and how we build it. … We want to make sure we position ourselves in a good spot for that opportunity [against the Phoenix] on our home floor.”