Update (Nov. 6): The game will tipoff at 3 p.m. and air on ESPN2.

ARLINGTON – The UT Arlington men's basketball season will start in front of a national TV audience at the College Park Center when the Mavericks host Oklahoma State on Wednesday, Nov. 25.
 
The game against the Big 12 Conference member will air live on the ESPN networks: ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. A decision regarding network designation will be made at a later date, along with the game's start time. Nov. 25 is the first day Division-I games can be contested in the COVID-affected 2020-21 season.
 
UTA Athletics officials are planning to allow a limited amount of fans – approximately 500 in total – at all home men's and women's basketball games this year. Details are still being finalized as department officials work collaboratively with university and Sun Belt Conference officials to ensure all policies are implemented. Information regarding ticket sales and attendance procedures will be released in the coming weeks.
 
"This is another incredible opportunity for our program, campus and city of Arlington to be showcased on a national level," said UTA head coach Chris Ogden. "We're excited to welcome a great Big 12 team to our arena, and our guys are thrilled to be able to play in front of our fans again. We have the chance to show the country how special and unique UTA and Arlington are, and give our students and community a national platform to showcase the impact they have on our team."
 
The game is part of a 2-for-1 home-and-home series between UTA and Oklahoma State. The Mavs will travel to Stillwater to play the Cowboys in each of the next two seasons: 2021-22 and 2022-23.
 
This will be the second-straight regular-season game at the College Park Center on national TV for UTA as the Mavericks hosted rival Texas State on ESPN2 in the 2019-20 home finale on Feb. 28. That contest was the first-ever regular-season home game on national TV for UTA; during the Mavs' run to the NIT quarterfinals in 2017 they had a pair of those postseason games at the CPC air nationally on ESPNU.
 
Additionally, this will be only the second Power-5 member to visit the CPC since it opened in the middle of the 2011-12 season. UTA tipped off its home slate in 2012-13 by hosting Oklahoma in front of a program-record 6,421 fans.
 
This will be the 13th all-time meeting between UTA and Oklahoma State. The Mavs lone win in the series came in the Cowboys last visit to Arlington – a 69-58 triumph in 1987. The two sides last met in Stillwater during the 2012-13 season.
 
OSU was picked 7th in the Big 12 Preseason Poll, but feature the nation's 4th-ranked recruiting class. That class is anchored by the 2020 Naismith High School Player of the Year and Arlington native Cade Cunningham, who has been installed as the National Freshman of the Year by many preseason publications. The Cowboys – who went 18-14 before the 2019-20 season was cut short following their first round of the Big 12 Tournament – have four total players from the DFW area.
 
UTA and Georgia Southern are the only Sun Belt teams to have posted six-straight years of double-figure league victories – a stretch the Mavs will be looking to continue in 2020-21. UTA returns two of its top-3 scorers from a season ago in David Azore (14 ppg) and Sam Griffin (9.4 pgg). Ogden welcomes back seven letterwinners from last year, two redshirts who sat out and seven newcomers.
 
The remainder of UTA's non-conference schedule is still being finalized and will be announced in the coming days and weeks. Last week, the Sun Belt announced an adjusted, divisional-only conference schedule, and UTA's league docket can be viewed by clicking here.
 
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