Oregon State to Open Regular Season Against Rice, Face Western Oregon in Exhibition

The Wayne Tinkle era will begin on November 14 against Rice in Gill Coliseum, Building the Dam has learned. That Friday serves as the opening day for the college basketball season, a date that Oregon State has largely ignored in recent years.

While playing on that opening night will be nice, it does mean going up against the big traditional tipoff games, which this year includes Louisville-Minnesota, Georgia-Georgia Tech, Tennessee-VCU, and Michigan State-Navy.

We can also confirm a few more items on the non-conference slate. The Beavers will host Western Oregon in an exhibition game on November 7, which will be the first time Beaver Nation can see Tinkle and his players in competition. The Wolves finished last season with an 18-12 record but loses its top leading scorer from that team. The game at Oregon State will be their only one against a Division I opponent this season.

In MGM Grand Main Event "Regional Round" news, the game against Oral Roberts has been moved up to November 21, giving the team an extra day to prepare for their meeting with Oklahoma State on the 24th.

And finally, we now know the game at Quinnipiac will be played on December 21, and from there the team will disperse for the Christmas holiday. The Beavers beat the Bobcats in Corvallis last December.

Here's what the non-conference schedule looks like right now:

November 7: Western Oregon (exhibition)

November 14: Rice

November 16-19: Opponent TBD (Part of MGM Grand Main Event Regional Round)

November 21: Oral Roberts

November 24: vs Oklahoma State in Las Vegas

November 26: vs Tulsa or Auburn in Las Vegas

December 13: Mississippi State

December 18: DePaul

December 21: @ Quinnipiac

December 30: UC Santa Barbara