MOSCOW, Idaho - A Black Friday matchup with Washington State, a holiday trip to Arizona State, and a battle with the Pac-12's Colorado State highlight Idaho men's basketball's 2026-27 non-conference schedule, announced Tuesday.

"As we build our schedule, we look for a good combination of challenges at home and on the road that will prepare us for Big Sky play," said Vandal head coach Alex Pribble of Idaho's 12-game slate. "Much like last year, we want to be playing our best basketball in February and March, so it's important that we learn the right lessons early in the year."

The Vandals will begin the new season on Monday, November 2, inside the friendly confines of ICCU Arena against George Fox, before traveling to Fort Collins, Colorado, to face Colorado State, who are coming off a 21-win season that saw the Rams qualify for postseason play for the fifth time in six years. 

"It's nice to have seven non-conference home games, including a North Dakota State team that won 27 games last year, and a couple of Big West teams that we expect to be very good this year," Pribble said when discussing Idaho's home schedule. "We are also excited about the opportunity to play against top-level competition from the Big 12, Pac-12, and Mountain West."

UI's non-conference slate features seven home games, with multiple DI opponents visiting Moscow. The Big West's Cal Poly (Nov. 13) and CSU Bakersfield (Nov. 20) will each visit the Palouse after Idaho faced them in the Golden State a year ago, while North Dakota State's December 8 trip to ICCU Arena will be its first to Moscow since 2008.

"With the additional conference games this year, we have the added challenge of playing tough Big Sky road games early in December," Pribble added.

The game against the Bison will follow a nearly two-week interruption of the Vandals' non-conference schedule for two Big Sky contests against Northern Colorado and Portland State.

Additional features of Idaho's 2026-27 schedule include November 18 in Reno against 2026 NIT quarterfinalists Nevada, the 281st Battle of the Palouse against Washington State on November 27, and a December 23 trip to Arizona State.

Idaho's entire 2026-27 schedule, including the previously announced Big Sky slate, can be seen below.

(Home games marked in BOLD, Big Sky games marked with *)

11/2 – George Fox 
11/6 – at Colorado State 
11/8 – Lincoln 
11/13 – Cal Poly 
11/18 – at Nevada 
11/20 – CSU Bakersfield 
11/23 – Dickinson State
11/27 – at Washington State 
12/3 – at Northern Colorado*
12/5 – at Portland State*
12/8 – North Dakota State 
12/12 – at South Dakota State
12/18 – NW Indian College 
12/23 – at Arizona State
12/31 – Utah Tech*
1/2 – Southern Utah*
1/9 – Northern Arizona*
1/14 – at Montana*
1/16 – at Montana State*
1/18 – at Weber State*
1/23 – Eastern Washington*
1/25 – Idaho State*
1/28 – Portland State*
1/30 – Northern Colorado*
2/4 – at Southern Utah*
2/6 – at Utah Tech*
2/11 – Montana State*
2/13 – Montana*
2/18 – at Northern Arizona*
2/22 – Weber State*
2/27 – at Eastern Washington*
3/1 – at Idaho State*

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