GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's basketball team will play a 26-game schedule with the release of the Pioneers' 2023-24 schedule.

Seven of those 26 contests will be against programs who advanced to last year's NCAA Division II Tournament including the first four regular season contests to open the 2023-24 campaign.

Head coach JT Burton, who is entering his sixth season in Greeneville, returns four lettermen from last year's 16-11 club which finished runner-up in the South Atlantic Conference Mountain Division and advanced to the semifinal round of the SAC Tournament.

The Pioneers also have three exhibition games on its slate this year. Tusculum traveled to Ole Miss last Monday and host the University of the Cumberlands this Monday morning (Nov. 6) in the Pioneers' annual Education Game. Local elementary school children will be in attendance as TU welcomes the Patriots to Pioneer Arena. Tip-off is slated for 11 a.m.

Tusculum also has a Dec. 15 exhibition game slate against East Tennessee State University in Johnson City.

Three of the first four regular-season games will be at Pioneer Arena, a place where the Pioneers went 10-3 a year ago. Tusculum will host Lander on Nov. 10 to open the season. The Bearcats went 22-10 and are coming off a fourth place finish in the Peach Belt Conference. Lander would advance to the PBC Tournament final and earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament.

On Nov. 15, Tusculum will travel to USC Aiken to face the defending Peach Belt Champions. The Pacers went 24-9 last season with one of those losses coming to the Pioneers in Greeneville. USC Aiken also earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Southeast Regional where they upset top-seeded Augusta before being eliminated by Lincoln Memorial in the region final.

Tusculum will host defending Conference Carolinas champion UNC Pembroke on Nov. 21 in Greeneville. The Braves posted a sterling 26-4 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament as an at-large qualifier. This will be the first of two meetings with UNCP as the Pioneers will make a return trip to Pembroke on Dec. 30.

Tusculum will face its fourth straight 20-win team from last year when North Georgia comes to Greeneville on Nov. 21. The Nighthawks (21-8) finished third in the Peach Belt and moved onto second round of the NCAA Southeast Regional.

Tusculum returns to the road on Nov. 27 for a region contest at Lees-McRae. The Pioneers posted a season-high in points on the Bobcats last year in a 106-83 victory in Greeneville.  Lees-McRae went 13-16 last season and tied for eighth in Conference Carolinas.

The Pioneers tip off the South Atlantic Conference season on Dec. 2 when they host Anderson. The Trojans finished sixth in the SAC Piedmont Division and dropped a 97-94 overtime home loss at the hands of the Pioneers last season.

Tusculum will be at Coker on Dec. 9 as the Cobras tied for fourth place in the Piedmont Division and went 12-17 including a home win over the Pioneers.

On Dec. 13, Tusculum will host arch-rival Carson-Newman at Pioneer Arena. The Eagles went 14-14 and tied for fourth in the SAC Mountain Division which included a pair of losses at the hands of the Black & Orange.

Following the exhibition game at ETSU, Tusculum will be at Newberry on Dec. 16 to begin a season-long four-game road swing. The Wolves finished runner-up in the Piedmont Division while going 19-10 on the year including a 78-67 loss to the Pioneers in Greeneville.

Tusculum wraps up the 2023 calendar year with a rematch at UNC Pembroke before traveling to Emory & Henry on Jan. 3. The Pioneers dropped a pair of contests to the Wasps, who were competing in their inaugural SAC campaign last year. E&H went 15-13 overall and finished sixth in the Mountain Division.

The four-game road trip ends Jan. 6 when Tusculum travels to Wingate. The Bulldogs went 15-13 and finished third in the Piedmont Division. Wingate won the regular-season meeting over Tusculum, but the Pioneers won the rematch 73-71 in the SAC quarterfinal as Connor Jordan hit the game-winning free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining.

Tusculum begins a three-game home-stand on Jan. 13 as they host Limestone. The Saints tied for fourth place in the Mountain Division and went 13-16 overall. The two teams split last year's season series winning on their opponent's respective courts.

Tusculum and Emory & Henry will meet on Jan. 17 for the second time in as many weeks before welcoming defending SAC Piedmont Division and SAC Tournament champion Catawba to Pioneer Arena. The Catawba Indians went 23-8 last year advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Tusculum won at Catawba in the regular-season finale, but the Indians exacted their revenge, ending the Pioneers season in the SAC Tournament semifinal.

TU will be on the road for three straight games to end the month of January beginning with Lincoln Memorial on Jan. 24. The Railsplitters (30-5) won the SAC Mountain Division title before being upset in the SAC semifinals. LMU responded by winning the NCAA Southeast Region crown to advance to the Division II Elite Eight. Tusculum and LMU split their two meetings last year including an 80-78 victory by the Pioneers over the then third-ranked Railsplitters.

The Pioneers travel to Hickory, North Carolina to face the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears on Jan. 27. Lenoir-Rhyne finished fourth in the Piedmont Division and went 11-15 overall including an 85-78 road loss at Tusculum.

The road trip ends on Jan. 31 as the Pioneers make the short trip over Sam's Gap to face Mars Hill. The Lions went 9-19 overall and finished seventh in the Mountain Division which included a pair of losses to Tusculum.

The Pioneers will play five of its seven games at home in February beginning with a Feb. 3 rematch with Newberry.

On Feb. 7, the Pioneers will be at UVA Wise to face the Highland Cavaliers. The Cavs had its best season since joining the SAC as Wise went 19-12 and finished third in the Mountain Division. The Cavs made noise in the SAC postseason, upsetting top-seeded LMU in the SAC semifinal before falling to Catawba in the championship game. TU and UVA Wise split the two meetings last year.

A rematch at home with Wingate is set for Feb. 10 before Pioneers travel to Carson-Newman on Feb. 14.

Tusculum will host Lincoln Memorial (Feb. 21), Coker (Feb. 24) and UVA Wise (Feb. 28), before traveling to Anderson (Mar. 2) to close out the regular season.

The entire SAC Tournament will be played at the Rock Hill Sports & Events Center from March 5-8. The NCAA Southeast Regional will be played March 15-18 with the Elite Eight taking place at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana (March 26-30).