Dayton basketball: Flyers' series with Cincinnati Bearcats will continue

The Dayton Flyers will play the Cincinnati Bearcats on Nov. 11 at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, the schools announced Monday, and they will play at UD Arena on a date to be announced in the 2026-27 season.

News of the home-and-home series was previously reported last week by Jon Rothstein, of CBS Sports, but the date was still to be decided at that point.

The games will take place at campus sites after matchups on a neutral court at the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati the last two seasons.

“There were just a lot of different conversations about it,” Dayton Athletic Director Neil Sullivan said. “I don’t want to get ahead of UC’s neutral-game slate, but I think they have a neutral-game slate that led more favorably to pursuing a home and home. Fortunately, we were able to get that done.

Dayton lost 66-59 to Cincinnati last December. A year earlier, Dayton beat Cincinnati 82-68 in the first meeting between the programs in 13 years.

“We’ve had good games against them the last couple of years,” Sullivan said. “We’re excited to keep that series going. I think it’s good for college basketball and good for Southwest Ohio. We’ve got a lot of respect for their program, and hopefully it will be another two years of some highly-contested battles.”

Dayton hasn’t played on the UC campus since 2010 when the Flyers beat the Bearcats 81-66 in the second round of the NIT.

The Bearcats haven’t played Dayton at UD Arena since a 65-55 victory on Dec. 4, 2004.

The game against the Bearcats likely will be the third game of the 2025-26 season for Dayton. It will open the season Nov. 3 against Canisius University, according to a report by Rothstein, and it will play University of Maryland, Baltimore County on Nov. 8, at UD Arena, according to a report by college basketball analyst Rocco Miller.

Dayton’s full non-conference schedule was released on Aug. 6 last year. Sullivan expects the date to be later this summer.

“I say this every year, and this may be one of those times I’m proven to be correct,” Sullivan said, “but I think this has been the most challenging year (for scheduling).”

Dayton has to find an extra game to maintain a 13-game non-conference schedule because it is playing two games instead of the normal three at its annual November tournament, which is the ESPN Events Invitational this year.

“I think a lot of coaches and a lot of people don’t like the wear and tear on the body, and two games is understandable,” Sullivan said. “But for Dayton, that third game is a massive opportunity if you think about Maui last year, or other years before. We’ve got to try to find a way to replace that third game. And I can tell you that the only way North Carolina, Iowa State and UConn were playing Dayton wasn’t was because they were assigned to play us.”