Denver men’s basketball seems serious about upgrading their non-conference play in preparation for their first season in the West Coast Conference (WCC). DU’s new hoops conference insists on strength of schedule, and Denver delivered what is almost certainly its toughest non-conference slate in program history. Jayhawks, Badgers, and Buffs, Oh My!
The 2026-27 schedule has been released, and the highlights include:
The Power Four portion of the schedule includes road tilts against Wisconsin November 2nd (season-opener), Kansas (November 23rd), and Colorado (December 29th). Local opponents include Wyoming at Hamilton Gym on November 14th and Air Force in Colorado Springs on December 1st. A trip to face New Mexico State (Conference USA), a mid-major basketball power in Las Cruces, NM, on November 28th, and Rice University (American Athletic Conference) on December 19th at Hamilton Gym should be a pair of must-watch games.
Get out your calendars.
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Denver travels to Kansas City to play Sam Houston State on December 8th and the UMKC Kangaroos, a former Summit League partner in midseason tournament play. DU’s only D2 games will be played against UCCS and Colorado Christian, both at Hamilton Gym.
DU begins conference play against San Francisco on Saturday, January 12th. While the WCC coaches poll has yet to be released for 2026-27, Denver has been selected at or near the bottom of the conference by several outside polls for its first full season in the conference. This season will be a litmus test for the program. It is not a matter of seeing where DU stacks up, but it is more a chance to learn where and how Denver must improve to compete in the basketball-centric West Coast Conference.
A tough non-conference start will be a good measuring stick.
Very tough schedule. While DU will likely get spanked at Wisconsin, Kansas and Colorado, those games will be memorable experiences for the players, especially playing at the legendary Allen Fieldhouse (1955) in Lawrence, Kansas — It’s in the conversation as one of the best historic college basketball gyms in the country, along the Penn Palestra in Phildelphia (1927), Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke (1940) and Butler ‘s Hinkle Fieldhouse (1928) in Indianapolis..
Great to see Rice and Wyoming playing at Denver this year, too.
Now, if we could just get rid of the D-II home games…
Super tough schedule!!! Will be very challenging. Good to see teams like Wyoming and Rice to come to Hamilton Gym. Wow!! They are playing Southern Illinois- Edwardsville at their court which is surprising but it’s a soft game and they need some! DU will be plenty banged up by the big guys!