2022-23 Concordia Men’s Basketball Schedule
SEWARD, Neb. – Following last season’s run to the NAIA national quarterfinals, the Concordia Men’s Basketball program will make its first official appearance of the 2022-23 campaign at the 23rd annual Cattle Classic. The Bulldogs have announced a 28-game varsity regular season slate for the upcoming winter. The ’22-23 journey will feature 20 league contests, eight nonconference games, a total of 14 home clashes and the return of the Concordia Invitational Tournament, hosted by CUNE.
This will be year 10 for Head Coach Ben Limback at his alma mater. The Bulldogs finished last season at 28-7 overall while claiming GPAC regular season and tournament titles. Concordia will say goodbye to NAIA Second Team All-American Carter Kent, but will bring back three All-GPAC award winners: Gage Smith (first team), Noah Schutte (honorable mention) and AJ Watson (honorable mention).
The Cattle Classic (Nov. 4-5) will get the new season tipped off inside Friedrich Arena. Opponents at the event will include Tabor College (Kan.) and Ottawa University (Kan.). As part of a unique event on Dec. 20, the Bulldogs are slated to take on Oklahoma Wesleyan University at the University of Nebraska’s Pinnacle Bank Arena. Just before New Year’s Day, Concordia will head south and play at Texas Wesleyan University (Dec. 28) and the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma (Dec. 30). On Thanksgiving weekend, the Bulldogs will trek to Forest City, Iowa, to play at Waldorf University.
After two years without CIT, the grand event will be staged in Seward in January 2023. On day one (Jan. 27), CUNE will go head-to-head with Concordia Chicago, which went 15-10 overall last season. The most recent CIT (in 2020) saw the Bulldogs dominate with wins over Concordia Ann Arbor, 79-57, and Concordia Wisconsin, 92-55, in River Forest, Ill.
Conference play is set to open on Nov. 12 with a road trip to Briar Cliff, the foe Concordia shared the 2021-22 GPAC regular season title with. Just like the ’21-22 season, the Bulldogs will again end the regular season at the Corn Palace, home to Dakota Wesleyan. Entering the campaign, Concordia owns a 20-game home win streak.
Dates for the GPAC tournament are Feb. 22 for the quarterfinals, Feb. 25 for the semifinals and Feb. 28 for the championship game. The opening round of the 2023 NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship tournament will take place March 7-8 with action at the final site (remaining 16 teams) at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., to run March 13-18.
The junior varsity men’s basketball schedule is also included in the link above. The season’s first JV game is slated for Oct. 31.