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Good news everyone, the Seton Hall Men’s Basketball team released their non-conference schedule for the 2025-2026 season. If you are a sicko like me, you have been waiting all summer for this to be released.
So I present to you the following non-conference schedule for the Pirates this season.
11/3 Saint Peter’s (Prudential Center)
11/7 Wagner (Walsh Gym)
11/10 Fairfield (Walsh Gym)
11/13 Monmouth (Prudential Center)
11/18 New Haven (Prudential Center)
11/24 NC State (Maui Invitational)
11/25 Boise State/USC (Maui Invitational)
11/26 TBD (Maui Invitational)
12/3 Central Connecticut State (Walsh Gym)
12/6 Kansas State (Manhattan, KS)
12/13 Rutgers (Prudential Center)
Obviously, I have notes on the schedule and there are plenty of them to go around.
First, the Pirates will play three teams from the great basketball state of Connecticut in Fairfield, New Haven and Central Connecticut State. On opening night (11/3), they will take on Saint Peter’s once again at the Prudential Center.
Looking at the days the early slate falls on, the Pirates will play multiple Monday nights, a Thursday night and a Friday night. One thing to mention when it comes to that Friday game vs Wagner on November 7, there’s another game going on campus. The Men’s Soccer team will be playing UConn on the last day of their regular season so it will be a busy on campus.
Why do I say campus? Well because that game vs Wagner will take place in Walsh Gymnasium potentially around or at the same time as men’s soccer. In what can be described as abnormal, the Pirates will play three games at Walsh and four at “The Rock” in non-conference play.
Personally, I liked calling games at Walsh and having one or two games a year there is fine for men’s basketball. However, it feels wrong to have three games there, albeit it was due to scheduling conflicts at the Pru. Fans, season ticket holders and whoever else will be mad, but I don’t think it annoys head coach Shaheen Holloway.
Besides the Maui Invitational, the Pirates will play two big-time opponents in their first 11 games. Rutgers, of course, with the game being played at Prudential this season and Kansas State on the road.
One thing I will be interested to see is what the women’s non-conference schedule looks like. Hopefully it comes out soon. But focusing on the men’s team, let’s deep dive into every opponent.
Saint Peter’s:
It has seemingly become tradition for the Pirates to play Sha’s former team early in a season. Then of course every broadcaster will bring up the Peacocks’ amazing Elite Eight run in 2022. But will the Pirates be able to beat them handily this season?
Seton Hall only won last season’s game 57-53 so hopefully it’s a better start to the season for them. Remember, besides pieces like sophomores Jahseem Felton and Godswill Erheriene, this roster is basically new. There will be some bumps and mistakes, but the Pirates should win.
Also, there’s another election the next day. This time for who will be the new governor of New Jersey. Can we give a vote to someone like Eli Manning for a good laugh?
Wagner:
One of the first basketball games I photographed last season for WSOU was when Seton Hall played Wagner in Walsh. The Pirates, while not great offensively, dominated defensively as they held Wagner to 28 points the entire game. It might be the same result as I don’t think Donald Copeland and his squad have a chance at beating Holloway and Seton Hall.
Now with this being a Friday game, will fans show up, specifically students? Also, logistically, what time will this game tipoff because men’s soccer has a match that same night at 7 p.m.? It’s interesting to see a Friday game though, but I will be covering high school football so I will not be attending unfortunately.
Fairfield:
Back to back Walsh games for the Pirates, this time vs the Fairfield Stags on a Monday night. The Stags will be on a Jersey trip of sorts as they will play at NJIT the Saturday before they visit Seton Hall. From what I researched, the Pirates and Stags haven’t met since 1980.
I will say this about Fairfield, they had a great season in lacrosse this past spring and they have an awesome home arena. Plus, they have a freshman named Declan Wucherpfennig, who played at Bergen Catholic in high school and was one of New Jersey’s best players. I will try to take pics for this matchup.
Monmouth:
The last game I called for Seton Hall was a baseball game vs Monmouth and the Pirates won. In basketball, the Pirates were embarrassed at home by the Hawks last season. Abdi Bashir Jr. cooked the Pirates and it was just embarrassing all around for Seton Hall.
Now, the game is taking place on a Thursday night which means one thing, people are going out. From frat parties to Iron Bar to how bad the team was last season, attendance could be something to watch out for this game. Even with an easy schedule to start, will students and fans still show up, or will they still be sour about last season?
New Haven:
Sickos Committee would be proud of me if I took pictures for this game. For a team in New Haven that’s transitioning to Division One, you think this game would be played at Walsh. Honestly, I’m so glad it’s being played at the Prudential Center.
With the Maui Invitational less than a week later from this game, it’s no doubt a tune-up game for Seton Hall. If the Pirates are 5-0 after this game, there’s no doubt they’ll have a lot of confidence heading to Hawaii. Though, these first five games are essentially cupcake games for the Pirates (which of course backfired on them last season).
NC State-Boise State/USC (Maui Invitational):
Thanksgiving week will see Seton Hall travel to Hawaii to participate in one of college basketball’s best events in the Maui Invitational. The Hall will undoubtedly face their hardest competition of the season up to that point facing a few quality programs. Their first matchup against NC State will be a true indicator of where this program is at.
Under new HC Will Wade, NC State could make some noise in the ACC this season and the Pirates could have trouble beating them. The Pirates don’t even get the luxury to learn inside secrets from transfer Trey Parker since his former team is basically all new pieces. Safe to say, this might be a loss for the Pirates.
Also, I’m not going in-depth on Boise State or USC since Seton Hall doesn’t know who they’ll play. If the Pirates lose, my best bet is they’ll face Boise State, but even then that won’t be easy since the Broncos were 26-11 last season.
Central Connecticut State:
After Thanksgiving rolls past Seton Hall, the Pirates will be back at Walsh taking on a great CCSU squad. The Blue Devils last season were an impressive 25-7, which allowed them to win the NEC regular season title. Unfortunately for them, they fell to Saint Francis (PA) in the NEC Championship Game (and a program soon heading to Division Three).
The Pirates should be healthy, recharged and be able to defeat the opposing team easily. Now, they shouldn’t ignore the fact that anything can happen. This is of course a Seton Hall team that fell to a team like Fordham last season so they have to take this one seriously.
But their next game is a doozy.
Kansas State:
I just realized Seton Hall really likes playing Big 12 teams on the road (remember Kansas and Baylor anyone). On December 6, the Pirates travel to the other Manhattan in Kansas to face the Wildcats for just their second ever meeting. Let’s get this one settled immediately, the Pirates might fall to Kansas State.
However, my college football brain wasn’t going to forget something here. That same day, the Big 12 Championship game will be played and maybe quarterback Avery Johnson and the Wildcats will be hoisting the conference trophy that day. What I’m saying is fans could be more focused on that game if the football team advances that far and that would give Seton Hall a chance.
Actually, PJ Haggerty and known Seton Hall beater Abdi Bashir Jr. might just beat the Pirates regardless.
Rutgers:
Lastly, the Pirates will play their annual rivalry game vs Rutgers in the Garden State Hardwood Classic. Facing a two game losing streak in the series, the Pirates need to finish their non-conference portion of their schedule well. The benefit of this year’s matchup is that it’s at the Prudential Center.
Seton Hall is pretty angry about how last year’s game turned out with Rutgers winning at the buzzer. But with no more Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper for Rutgers, maybe Seton Hall gets back on track in the rivalry. The early Devils game that Saturday could affect the game a little bit, but we’ll see how that pans out.