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The Quakers recently released the first half of their 2025-26 campaign.
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No. 23 Ethan Robert’s shooting a layup against Maine on Nov. 30.
Credit: Jackson Ford
Penn men’s basketball will have no shortage of opportunities to prove itself during its first season under coach Fran McCaffery.
Last week, the Quakers revealed their nonconference schedule for the 2025-26 season via social media, setting the stage for the 1972 alumnus’s inaugural campaign. The slate features marquee matchups with high-major programs, including a trip to Providence on Nov. 11 and a game at Rutgers on Dec. 20, as well as a matchup with former coach Steve Donahue, who will return to the Palestra as an assistant for Saint Joseph’s on Nov. 17.
The Red and Blue will open the season at home on Nov. 7 against Division III Rowan before embarking on a two-game road trip to face American and Providence. The Friars, who play in the Big East, last hosted Penn in 2019, when the Quakers scored an 81-75 upset win behind big performances from AJ Brodeur, Ryan Betley, and Jordan Dingle.
Then, Penn will return to the City of Brotherly Love for its Big Five pod play, hosting the Hawks and making college basketball’s shortest trip to play Drexel on Nov. 21. It is the first meeting between the Quakers and Dragons in Big 5 play since 2022.
Notably, Penn is not guaranteed to play Villanova this season due to the reconfiguration of the Big 5 pod system. The programs could meet at the Big Five Classic on Dec. 6, but if they do not, it will mark the first season since 2000-01 that the programs have not faced off.
For the fourth consecutive year, Penn will play host to the Cathedral Classic over Thanksgiving weekend, from Nov. 28-30. The Quakers will face another Philadelphia foe, La Salle, for the first time since 2022, as well as Merrimack and Hofstra.
Then, on Dec. 20, Penn will travel to Rutgers for a face off with the Big Ten Scarlet Knights. Ivy League teams have fared well against Rutgers as of late, with rival Princeton defeating the Scarlet Knights in each of the last two seasons. Now, Penn will be tested against the nearby high-major foe.
The Quakers will close out nonconference play with a road date at George Mason on Nov. 28 and a home game against NJIT on New Year’s Eve. Penn’s conference schedule is expected to be released in the coming weeks.
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