According to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander, Memphis has another opponent for the 2026 season. The Tigers will play Dayton as part of a multi-year inter-conference series between the American and the A-10 that “will aim to up the non-conference profiles of notable programs in the leagues.”
According to the agreement, Penny Hardaway’s team will play against Dayton, while South Florida will play against Saint Louis. Both games will be played on Sunday, November 29, and they will both be aired on ESPN.
The plan is for both games to be played as a doubleheader at a neutral site that has yet to be determined, and the hope is to grow this in the future, according to Norlander.
The Tigers have been known to play tough non-conference schedules under Hardaway, and it appears they will face another challenging slate in 2026. This season, Memphis’ non-conference strength of schedule ranked No. 18, according to KenPom, and it already has games set against Vanderbilt, Baylor, Louisville, Texas and Utah State.
The Tigers announced their first addition to next year’s schedule on February 27, with a home-and-home with Texas that will begin in Austin on Dec. 16.
The schedule for the end of November and early December already looks brutal for Memphis. The Tigers will play Dayton and Baylor a week apart before playing the Longhorns 10 days later.
Memphis will also likely play in an MTE during feast week. It’ll also be interesting to see if they add another game between the Baylor and Texas games.
Dayton is 21-10 this season, and it has been a sneaky mid-major team for years. This season, the Flyers have wins over Marquette, Georgetown and Florida State, and they gave BYU a scare in a four-point loss.
The Tigers have now announced two new opponents for the 2026 non-conference slate, and it’ll be interesting to see what type of opponents they add for the remaining openings.