NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Head coach Dan Kosmoski announced the St. Olaf College men's basketball team's 25-game schedule for the upcoming 2023-24 season on Thursday.

This season, St. Olaf will play five non-conference opponents plus a 20-game slate against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) foes, highlighted by a season-opening trip to Washington to face the top-two teams in the Northwest Conference. The Oles will play just one of their five non-conference games on their home court.

"Our schedule is another challenging one for the Oles," said Kosmoski, who enters his 30th season as St. Olaf's head coach. "We are hoping scrimmages against North Dakota State and Southwest Minnesota State will prepare us for opening up the season against Whitman and Whitworth. We will be road-tested before our home opener against UW-Stevens Point. This is a very aggressive schedule considering we lost three starters from last year, but it is also a great challenge for our team!"

During its season-opening trip to Washington state, St. Olaf will match up with Whitman College and Whitworth University, which played for the NWC title last year and were the top-two teams in the conference's preseason poll this year. The Oles will face the Blues at 9 p.m. CDT on Friday, Nov. 10 before playing the Pirates at 8 p.m. CDT the following night. Whitman was 22-5 a year ago and received votes in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25, while Whitworth appeared in the NCAA Tournament last season after winning the NWC Tournament title.

After returning to Minnesota, the Oles will host UW-Stevens Point in their home opener at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15 in their final tune-up before MIAC play begins. St. Olaf will open its MIAC slate against Gustavus Adolphus College at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at Bob Gelle Court.

After that, the Oles will play four-straight games against teams that qualified for the MIAC Playoffs last season from Nov. 29 – Dec. 4. In that stretch, St. Olaf will travel to St. Paul for a game at Macalester College on Wednesday, Nov. 29 and will host crosstown-rival Carleton College on Monday, Dec. 4. The Knights and Scots both collected votes in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25.

To wrap up 2022, Kosmoski's team will close out its non-conference slate with trips to UW-River Falls and UW-Eau Claire, which both qualified for the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament last season, on Dec. 12 and Dec. 30. In the second half of the season, St. Olaf will play three consecutive games against 2023 MIAC Playoff teams from Jan. 31 – Feb. 7 when the Oles visit Carleton and Saint John's University on either side of a home date with Hamline University.

The 2024 MIAC Men's Basketball Playoffs will be held Feb. 20-24, as the Oles go in search of their fifth-straight and 11th appearance in the last 13 seasons.