FARMINGTON, Utah — Competitive, non-conference basketball games are coming to Viking Pavilion as the Big Sky Conference and Summit League announced a three-year challenge series Tuesday that will start during the upcoming 2023-24 season.
 
The officially titled Big Sky-Summit Challenge will see each men's and women's team play one home and one road game against two opponents from the other conference over each of the next three seasons.
 
"Securing more Division I non-conference home games for our schools is a top priority as we continue to seek ways to elevate our league in the increasingly competitive national landscape of college basketball," Big Sky Conference Commissioner Tom Wistrcill said. "I want to thank Josh [Fenton, Summit League commissioner] and the entire staff and membership of the Summit League for helping make this agreement happen, and we're excited to see it tip off this upcoming season."
 
The inaugural challenge series will take place on Jan. 3 and 6, 2024. For Big Sky teams, that will come after their conference openers on Dec. 28 and 30, 2023.
 
"The Summit League is excited to partner with the Big Sky and its member institutions on this innovative concept," Fenton said. "This series will help each conference's member schools with guaranteed non-conference games in a challenging scheduling environment. It also gives us an opportunity to creatively engage with fans, while allowing our basketball programs to enhance their resumes. We are appreciative of the Big Sky and Tom Wistrcill for the partnership."

Official matchups for the first year of the series will be announced later. The games will be determined annually using data from past seasons' NET rankings and regular-season conference finishes, along with consideration for the prior season's matchups.

For the Challenge games during the 2023-24 season, the leagues will also take into account previously scheduled non-conference contests as a factor in determining the matchups.