COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – For the fourth-consecutive season, the Missouri Valley Conference and the Mountain West Conference will square off against each other in the MW/MVC Challenge Series in men’s basketball.
 
Nine games are set to be played matching schools from the conferences and for the first time in their histories, the University of Evansville and Colorado State have been pitted against each other.  The schools will square off on December 1, 2012 in Fort Collins, Colo.
 
Evansville is coming off of a 16-16 campaign, which saw the Aces advance to postseason play for the third time in the last four seasons.  The Aces will return three starters next season, led by MVC Player of the Year candidate Colt Ryan, who garnered All-MVC First Team honors as a junior this season.
 
Colorado State went an impressive 20-12 mark in 2011-12 while going 14-1 at home.  They advanced to the NCAA Tournament where they fell to Murray State by a 58-41 final in the second round.  The Rams will be led by new head coach Larry Eustachy, who takes over the program this year after eight seasons at Southern Miss.
 
The Aces have participated in the series on two occasions, falling at Air Force by a 57-56 final in 2010 before suffering an overtime defeat at the hands of TCU last season.  The other matchups for the upcoming season are below.
 
2012 CHALLENGE SCHEDULE (Series History)
11/17     San Diego St. at Missouri State (Series tied, 2-2; last meeting 3/14/07)
11/28     Boise State at Creighton (First meeting)
11/28     Fresno State at Southern Illinois (SIU leads, 1-0; only meeting 3/9/66)
12/1       Wichita State at Air Force (WSU leads, 1-0; only meeting 1/26/63)
12/1       Evansville at Colorado State (First meeting)
12/1        Drake at Nevada (Drake leads, 3-0; last meeting 12/16/69)
12/1       New Mexico at Indiana State (First meeting)
12/4       Wyoming at Illinois State (UW leads, 1-0; only meeting 12/28/85)
12/19     UNI at UNLV (UNI leads, 1-0; only meeting 3/18/10)